Exam 3 Conciseness from book

Question 1

1. What is consciousness?

Answer 1

1. Consciousness: An individual’s awareness of external events and internal sensations when aroused.

Question 2

How does consciousness relate to awareness and arousal?

What is the relationship between the two concepts?

Answer 2

Awareness = awareness of the self and thoughts about one’s experiences. Arousal = The physiological state of being engaged with the environment. • Arousal refers to the ways that awareness is regulated. Arousal is a physiological state determined by the reticular activating system as well as the brain stem, medulla, and thalamus.

Question 3

2. What is metacognition? How is it related to consciousness?

Answer 3

2. Metacognition: Process in which we think about thinking. Metacognition includes out awareness about the things in our conscious.

Question 4

3. What is theory of mind? How is it related to consciousness?

Answer 4

Theory of Mind: Individuals’ understanding that they and others think, feel, perceive, and have private experiences different from theirs.

Question 5

What is the difference between higher-level and lower-level consciousness?

Answer 5

4. Higher Level Consciousness: Involves controlled processing, in which individuals actively focus their efforts on attaining a goal; the most alert state of consciousness (Ex. Doing math or science)
   Lower Level Consciousness: Includes automatic processing that requires little attention, as well as daydreaming (Ex. Dialing a phone, gazing at a sunset)

Question 6

5. What is the difference between controlled and automatic processes?

Answer 6

Controlled processing requires a lot of alertness and focusing on the task at hand. Automatic processing is used in activities which require very little attention.

Question 7

6. Why is higher-level conscious associated with controlled processes and lower-level consciousness associated with automatic processes?

Answer 7

6. Higher level consciousness goes with controlled processes because a person has to be more conscious of what they’re doing when they’re doing a controlled process. When a person is doing an automatic process, they don’t have to be as conscious of what they’re doing (lower level consciousness)

Question 8

7. How is executive function involved in the controlled processes of higher-level consciousness?

Answer 8

7. Executive Function: Higher-order, complex cognitive processes, including thinking, planning, and problem solving.
   • Executive Function is the person’s capacity to harness consciousness, to focus on specific things while ignoring others

Question 9

8. What is an altered state of consciousness?

Answer 9

8.	Altered State of Consciousness: Forms of experience that depart from the normal subjective experience of the world and the mind
Things that alter Consciousness:
•	Sleep
•	Hypnosis
•	Meditation
•	Drugs

Question 10

9. What is a state of subconscious awareness? How is incubation an example of subconscious awareness?

Answer 10

9. A state of subconscious awareness is when our brain processes a lot of information, but we’re unaware of it.
   Incubation: The subconscious processing that leads to a solution to a problem after a break from conscious thought about the problem

Question 11

10. What is meant by unconscious thought?

Answer 11

10. Unconscious Thought: According to Freud, a reservoir of unacceptable wishes, feelings, and thoughts that are beyond conscious awareness

Question 12

11. What is sleep?

Answer 12

11. Sleep: A natural state of rest for the body and mind that involves that reversible loss of consciousness.

Question 13

12. What is a circadian rhythm? How can a circadian rhythm become desynchronized

Answer 13

12. Circadian Rhythm: A naturally reoccurring 24-hour cycle that controls many biological processes, including sleep and waking.
    • Circadian Rhythm’s become desynchronized when our sleep cycles are introduced to irregularities

Question 14

13. What are four major theories for why we need to sleep? What role does memory consolidation play in sleep?

Answer 14

4 Major theories on why we need sleep:
•	Evolutionary prospective – We need to protect ourselves at night
•	Sleep is a way to conserve energy
•	Sleep is restorative
•	Sleep enhances brain plasticity

Question 15

14. What effects can chronic sleep deprivation have?

Answer 15

14. The effects of chronic sleep deprivation:
    • Trouble paying attention and solving problems
    • Decreased brain activity in thalamus and prefrontal cortex
    • Reduced complexity of brain activity
    • Difficulty making healthy choices
    • Fatal Familial Insomnia (FFI)

Question 16

15. What are the two kinds of brain waves that occur during wakeful consciousness?

Answer 16

15. Beta Waves: Reflect concentration and alertness. Low amplitude, high frequency and not synchronous
    Alpha Waves: Associated with relaxation and drowsiness. Have lower frequency, but high amplitudes. Are synchronous

Question 17

16. What are the four stages of non-REM sleep?

Answer 17

16. Stage 1: Drowsy/light sleep. Includes theta waves and occasional sudden muscle movements (myoclonic jerks)
    Stage 2: Muscle activity decreases and person is no longer consciously aware of the environment. Has sleep spindles (a sudden increase in wave frequency)
    Stage 3: The emergency of delta waves (occurring less than 50% of the time)
    Stage 4: Deep sleep. Delta waves occur more than 50% of the time

Question 18

17. What is stage 5/REM sleep?

Answer 18

17. REM Sleep: An active stage of sleep during which dreaming occurs. People in REM sleep show EEG patterns similar to those of relaxed wakefulness.

Question 19

18. What is the normal cycle thorough these five stages of sleep? How does this cycle change across the night? How does the amount of time that we spend in both REM sleep and deep/delta sleep change across the night?

Answer 19

18. One sleep cycle lasts about 90-100 minutes and occurs several times throughout the night. 60% in light sleep, 20% deep sleep, 20% REM sleep. Deep sleep is much greater in the first half of the night than the second half. REM sleep usually takes place towards the end of the night’s sleep.

Question 20

19. What is insomnia and how can it be helped?

Answer 20

19. Insomnia: Inability to sleep. Can be treated with sleeping pills, practicing good sleeping habits, and melatonin supplements

Question 21

20. What is Freud’s theory of dreaming? What role does manifest and latent content play in this theory?

Answer 21

20. Freud believed that dreams symbolize unconscious wishes and that analysis of dream symbols can uncover our hidden dreams
    Manifest Content: The surface content of the dream, containing dream symbols that disguise the dream’s true meaning.
    Latent Content: A dream’s hidden content; it’s unconscious and true meaning.

Question 22

21. What is the cognitive theory of dreaming?

Answer 22

21. Cognitive Theory of Dreaming: Theory proposing that dreaming can be understood by applying the same cognitive concepts used to study the waking mind. Theory rests on the idea that dreams are essentially subconscious cognitive processing.

Question 23

22. What is the activation-synthesis theory of dreaming?

Answer 23

22. Activation-Synthesis Theory of Dreaming: Dreams result from the brain’s attempts to find logic in random brain activity that occurs during sleep.

Question 24

23. What is a psychoactive drug?

Answer 24

23. Psychoactive Drugs: Drugs that act on the nervous system to alter consciousness, modify perception, and change mood.

Question 25

24. What is drug tolerance? How is it related to drug abuse and addiction?

Answer 25

24. Tolerance: The need to take increasing amounts of a drug to get the same effect. When a person begins to take more of the drug, they begin to abuse it and can lead to an addiction.

Question 26

25. What is the difference between physical dependency on a drug and psychological dependency? How does each of these relate to addiction?

Answer 26

25. Physical Dependence: The need for a drug that causes unpleasant withdrawal symptoms such as physical pain and a craving for the drug once the drug use has stopped
    Psychological Dependence: The strong desire to use a drug for emotional reasons, such as stress of depression.
    • Both physical and psychological dependence are forms of addiction

Question 27

26. What is drug withdrawal? How is it related to tolerance and dependency?

Answer 27

26. Drug Withdrawal: Physical and mental symptoms that occur after stopping or reducing intake of a drug

Question 28

27. What are the three major types of psychoactive drugs?

Answer 28

3 Major Types of Psychoactive Drugs:
• Depressants
• Stimulants
• Hallucinogens