CLPS 0010 Readings - Chapter 5

Question 1

What is consciousness?

Answer 1

One’s subjective experience of the world, resulting from brain activity

Question 2

Do most scientists agree or disagree with dualism?

Answer 2

Disagree: believe mind and brain are inseparable

Question 3

What are the three absolutely vital functions of consciousness?

Answer 3

To perform complex actions that require input from different brain regions; to connect with one another by sharing thoughts and feelings; for complicated thinking

Question 4

What is a persistent vegetative state?

Answer 4

When someone is in a coma but with sleep and wake cycles for longer than a month

Question 5

What is a minimally conscious state?

Answer 5

The state between vegetative and fully conscious: some deliberate movements or communication; better prognosis

Question 6

What is the global workspace model?

Answer 6

That consciousness arises as a function of which brain circuits are active

Question 7

What is split brain?

Answer 7

A condition in which the corpus callosum is surgically cut and the two hemispheres of the brain don’t receive info directly from each other

Question 8

Which hemisphere is language dominant?

Answer 8

Left hemisphere

Question 9

Which hemisphere is spatial dominant?

Answer 9

Right hemisphere

Question 10

What does the term interpreter mean?

Answer 10

Refers to left hemisphere; refers to its attempts to make sense of actions and ongoing events

Question 11

Which hemisphere tends to look for patterns?

Answer 11

Left hemisphere, the interpreter

Question 12

When is unconscious thought most beneficial, for complex or simple decisions?

Answer 12

Better for complex decisions in which it’s difficult to weight pros and cons consciously

Question 13

What is the suprachiasmatic nucleus?

Answer 13

The small region of the hypothalamus that receives information about light signals for maintaining circadian rhythms

Question 14

How does light affect the pineal gland and circadian rhythms?

Answer 14

Less light, detected by the eyes and sent to the suprachiasmatic nucleus in the hypothalamus, triggers the pineal gland to secret more melatonin, which is a hormone that controls circadian rhythms

Question 15

What is the brain pattern for sleep/drowsiness?

Answer 15

Alpha waves, which are slower and more regular that beta waves

Question 16

What is Stage 1 of sleep?

Answer 16

Theta waves

Question 17

What is Stage 2 of sleep?

Answer 17

Sleep spindles and K complexes

Question 18

What are Stages 3 and 4 of sleep?

Answer 18

Delta waves

Question 19

What is REM?

Answer 19

Rapid eye movement stage of sleep, back to beta waves

Question 20

What brain areas are more active during REM sleep?

Answer 20

In occipital cortex and brainstem

Question 21

What happens to most of the body’s muscles during REM sleep?

Answer 21

Paralyzed, except for genital arousal (wtf?)

Question 22

What is obstructive sleep apnea?

Answer 22

A disorder in which a person, while asleep, stops breathing because his or her throat closes: frequent awakenings during the night

Question 23

What is pseudoinsomnia?

Answer 23

When you dream that you’re not sleeping

Question 24

What is REM behavior disorder?

Answer 24

There is no normal paralysis accompanying REM sleep, so sleepers flail; caused by a neurological deficit; most common in elderly males

Question 25

What are the three general explanations for sleep's adaptiveness?

Answer 25

Restoration, circadian rhythms, and facilitation of learning

Question 26

What is the restorative theory of sleep?

Answer 26

Sleep allows the body and brain to repair itself

Question 27

What is the circadian rhythm theory of sleep?

Answer 27

That sleep evolved to keep animals quiet and inactive during times of the day when there is greatest danger, usually during darkness

Question 28

What is the facilitation of learning theory of sleep?

Answer 28

The sleep is important for strengthening neural connections that serve as the basis of learning

Question 29

What is the general difference between REM and non-REM dreams?

Answer 29

REM dreams are bizarre and often involve intense emotions, visual and auditory hallucinations, and an uncritical acceptance of illogical events; non-REM dreams are usually pretty dull

Question 30

What brain areas are involved in REM dreaming?

Answer 30

Motor cortex, visual association area, brain stem, amygdala, but NOT the prefrontal cortex

Question 31

What is the manifest content of dreams?

Answer 31

The plot of a dream, the way it's remembered (according to Freud)

Question 32

What is the latent content of dreams?

Answer 32

According to Freud, what a dream symbolizes, the material that is disguised in a dream to protect the dreamer from confronting a conflict directly

Question 33

What is the activation-synthesis theory?

Answer 33

A theory of dreaming that proposes that the brain tries to make sense of random brain activity that occurs during sleep by synthesizing the activity with stored memories

Question 34

What is the evolved threat-rehearsal theory?

Answer 34

That dreams simulate threatening events so that people can rehearse strategies for coping

Question 35

What are three ways of potentially reaching altered states on consciousness?

Answer 35

Hypnosis, mediation, and immersion in an action

Question 36

What is the socio-cognitive theory of hypnosis?

Answer 36

That hypnotized people behave as they expect hypnotized people to behave, even if they have faulty expectations

Question 37

What is the dissociation theory of hypnosis?

Answer 37

Views hypnotic state as altered consciousness, but as a trancelike state in which conscious awareness is dissociated from other aspects of consciousness

Question 38

What is hypnotic analgesia?

Answer 38

Using hypnosis for pain reduction

Question 39

What brain region is especially important for craving and addiction?

Answer 39

The insula in the limbic system