Chapter Five - Consciousness Flashcards
(34 cards)
Activation-Synthesis Theory
Theory that dreams reflect inputs from brain activation originating in the pons, which the forebrain then attempts to weave into a story.
Biological Clock
Term for the suprachiasmatic nucleus (SCN) in hypothalamus that’s responsible for controlling our levels of alertness.
Circadian Rhythm
Cyclical changes that occur on a roughly 24-hour basis in many biological processes.
Consciousness
Our subjective experience of the world, our bodies, and our mental perspectives.
Déjà Vu
Feeling of reliving an experience that’s new.
Dissociation Theory
Approach to explaining hypnosis based on a separation between personality functions that are normally well integrated.
Dream Continuity Hypothesis
Hypothesis that there is continuity between sleeping and waking experiences and that dreams can mirror life circumstances.
Hallucinogenic
Drug that causes dramatic alterations of perception, mood, and thought.
Hypnosis
An interpersonal situation in which imaginative suggestions are administered for changes in consciousness.
Hypnotic
Drug that exerts a sleep-inducing effect.
Insomnia
Difficulty falling and staying asleep.
Lucid Dreaming
Experience of becoming aware that one is dreaming.
Mystical Experience
Feelings of unity or oneness with the world, often with strong spiritual overtones.
Narcolepsy
Disorder characterized by the rapid and often unexpected onset of sleep.
Narcotic
Drug that relieves pain and induces sleep.
Near-Death Experience
Out-of-body experience reported by people who’ve nearly died or thought they were going to die.
Neurocognitive Theory
Theory that dreams are supported by the brain’s default network and are a meaningful product of our cognitive capacities, which shape what we dream about.
Night Terrors
Sudden waking episodes characterized by screaming, perspiring, and confusion followed by a return to a deep sleep.
Non-REM Sleep
Stages one through four of the sleep cycle, during which rapid eye movements do not occur and dreaming is less frequent and vivid.
Out of Body Experience
Sense of our consciousness leaving our body.
Past Life Regression Therapy
Therapeutic approach that hypnotizes and supposedly age-regresses patients to a previous life to identify the source of a present day problem.
Physical Dependence
Dependence on a drug that occurs when people continue to take it to avoid withdrawal symptoms.
Psychoactive Drug
Substance that contains chemicals similar to those found naturally in our brains that alter consciousness by changing chemical processes in neurons.
Psychological Dependence
Non-psychological dependence on a drug that occurs when continued use of the drug is motivated by intense cravings.
