Lesson 001 Arousal continuum Flashcards
(21 cards)
What is the definition of psychological construct?
An idea or concept created to understand something that’s hard to directly measure or observe.
Examples include consciousness, emotion, and intelligence.
What is the term for the state of being aware of and able to perceive sensations, thoughts, emotions, and the environment?
Consciousness
What are States of Consciousness?
Labels given to an individual’s level of awareness to internal events and external stimuli, classified as low or high.
Examples of low state: sleep, coma; examples of high state: alertness.
True or False: When you are sleeping you have a low level of consciousness.
True
What is the Arousal continuum?
A diagram that portrays levels of awareness from the lowest states of consciousness to the highest states of consciousness.
What is an example of low level consciousness?
- Coma
- Sleep
What is an example of high level consciousness?
- Alert
- Aggression
- Fear
- Stressed
- Hyperarousal
What is Normal Waking Consciousness?
A state of consciousness loosely defined as when you are awake and aware of your thoughts, feelings, and perceptions.
What defines an Altered State of Consciousness?
Any state that deviates from normal waking consciousness in terms of awareness of perceptions, memories, thinking, emotions, and sense of time, place, and self-control.
Fill in the blank: Sleep is an _______ because it has lower-level awareness compared to normal waking consciousness.
Altered State of Consciousness
What is Hyperarousal?
An altered state of consciousness characterized by higher-level awareness, hypervigilance, and rapid brain processing.
Where would meditation be on the arousal continuum?
Meditation would be _____ on the arousal continuum because ____.
True or False: Daydreaming is considered to be an altered state.
True
What is the definition of Divided attention?
Attending to multiple stimuli or tasks by switching quickly between them, resulting in reduced accuracy.
What is an example of divided attention?
Performing multiple tasks simultaneously, although it’s not true multitasking.
What is the definition of Selective attention?
Focusing on a specific stimulus or set of stimuli while filtering out or ignoring others.
What brain structure regulates awareness and arousal?
Reticular Formation
What role does the Thalamus play in attention?
It acts as the brain’s sensory relay center, deciding which sensory inputs to attend to.
What is the role of the Cortex in sensory processing?
Interprets sensory inputs, processes them, and makes decisions about them.
Fill in the blank: Selective attention is crucial for _______ and decision-making.
efficient information processing
What happens when a loud noise occurs in a crowded room regarding selective attention?
The reticular formation signals alertness, the thalamus routes auditory input, and the prefrontal cortex determines its significance.
