Psych States of Consciousness

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Psych States of Consciousness
2011-12-01 03:21:31

Phychology Consciousness Chapter
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  1. Define consciousness:
    Our awareness of ourselves and our environment.
  2. What are biological rhythms?
    Periodic psychological fluctuations.
  3. What's the circadian rhythm?
    The biological clock; regular bodily rhythms (for example of temperature and wakefulness) that occur on a 24-hour cycle.
  4. What's REM sleep?
  5. What are alpha waves?
    The relatively slow brain waves of a relaxed, awake state.
  6. Define sleep.
    Periodic, natural, reversible loss of consciousness - as distinct from unconsciousness resulting in a coma, general anesthesia, or hibernation.
  7. What are hallucinations?
    False sensory experiences, such as seeing something in the absence of an external visual stimulus.
  8. What are delta waves?
    The large, slow brain waves associated with deep sleep.
  9. Theory: Why do we have the need to sleep?
    • 1. It protects.
    • 2. Recuperate: restore and repair brain tissue.
    • 3. Remembering
    • 4. Growth: Pituitary gland releases hormones during deep sleep.
  10. Insomnia
    Recurring problems in falling asleep or staying asleep.
  11. Narcolepsy
  12. Sleep Apnea
    A sleep disorder characteried by temporary cessations of breathing during sleep and repeated momentary awakenings.
  13. Night terrors
    A sleep disorder characterized by high arousal and an appearance of being terrified; unlike nightmares, nihgt terrors occur during Stage 4 sleep, within two or three hours of falling asleep, and are seldom remembered.
  14. Manifest Content
    The remembered story line of a dream.
  15. Latent Content
    The underlying meaning of a dream.
  16. Why do we Dream?
    • 1. To satisfy our own wishes.
    • 2. To file away memories.
    • 3. To develope and preserve neural pathways.
    • 4. To make sense of neural static.
    • 5. To reflect cognitive developement.
  17. REM Rebound
  18. Psychoactive Drug
    Chemical substance that alters perceptions and moods
  19. Physical Dependance
    A physiological need for a drug, marked by unpleasant withdrawl symptoms when drug is discontinud.
  20. Depressants
    Drugs that reduce neural activity and slow body functions. Examples: alcohol, barbiturates, and opiates.
  21. Barbiturates
    Drugs that depress the activity of the central nervous system, reducing anxiety but impairing memory and judgement.
  22. Opiates
    opium and its derivatives, such as morphine and heroin; they depress neural activity, temporarily lessening paon and anxiety.
  23. Stimulants
    Drugs that excite neural activity and speed up body functions. Examples: caffeine, nicotine, ampheramines, cocaine, xtc.
  24. Methamphetamine
    A powerfully addictive drug that stimulates the central nervous system, with sped up body functions and associated energy and mood changes; over time, appears to reduce baseline dopamine levels.
  25. Hypnosis
    a social interaction in which one person (the hypnotist) suggests to another (the subject) that certain perceptionsm feeling, thoughts, or behaviors will spontaneously occur
  26. Posthypnotic Suggestion
    a suggestion, made during a hypnosis session, to be carried out after the subject is no longer hypotized; used by some clinicians to help control undesired symptoms and behaviors.
  27. Dissociation
  28. Near Death Experience
    An altered state of consciousness reported after a close brush with death (ex. cardiac arrest); often similar to drug-induced hallucinations.
  29. Dualism
    The presumption that mind and body are two distinct entities that interact.
  30. Monism
    Mind and body are different aspects of the same thing.

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