Psy Ch 9 Set A: Consciousness and Sleep/Dreams

moment to moment awareness of self and environment; awareness of one's own mental activity; thoughts, feelings, perceptions, etc.

research on self-awareness with infants (age two) and some animals; sense of self and mark test (put mark on nose and look in mirror); review (studied aspects of consciousness); some believe there are levels of consciousness

there are 3 levels of consciousness: conscious, preconscious, and unconscious (subconscious)

things aware

storehouse of memory

things unaware

most time spent in waking state of consciousness; is the baseline state

distinct (noticeable) changes in mental processing; sleep, hypnosis, meditation, drug-induced states

the cycles of behavioral and physiological changes our bodies go through; changes in body temperature, certain hormonal secretions and other bodily functions; repeat about every 24 hours; cured by cycles of light and darkness; controlled by the suprachiasmatic nuclei (SCN); located in the hypothalamus; linked to the pineal gland which secretes melatonin, a hormone that has a relaxing effect on the body

owls - stay up later at night; larks - wake up earlier

jet lag, Monday morning blahs, rotating work shifts/long shifts/long work weeks

caused by travel across several time zones; worse when traveling eastward (lose hours)

from sleeping in on weekends, disrupting regular rhythms

one natural circadian rhythm is sleep-wake cycle; early belief - sleep was a time of mental inactivity; is actually an active, complex state

to monitor brain wave activity during sleep and shows stages of sleep

non-REM sleep (4 stages), REM sleep (just remember stage 1 REM); sleep pattern repeats every 90 minutes, 4-6 cycles a night

light sleep, you can be easily awakened, lasts about 1-7 minutes; brain wave pattern becomes more irregular

deeper level of sleep; characterized by sleep spindles; brief bursts of brain wave activity; lasting 1-2 seconds

regular appearance of slow and large delta waves; called slow wave sleep (stage 3)

deepest level of sleep; delta waves dominate; difficult to wake from this stage; when woken they're groggy and confused

Characterized by rapid eye movements (REM); high arousal; frequent dreaming; brainwave activity comparable to daytime levels

the body is highly aroused, yet there is very little movement

an inability to move muscles during REM sleep

increase the amount of REM sleep after being deprived of sleep (REM sleep)

stages 3 and 4 decrease in length; REM periods increase in length; nREM sleep has restorative functions; helps restore body and brain for future activities; helps consolidate memories of newly learned facts

can lead to fatigue, irritability and inattention; can be dangerous to self and others: errors/mistakes, more injuries, impaired learning, lowers effectiveness of immune system, automobile accidents

people sleep less as they get older (babies - 16 hours, Age 70 - 6 hours); sharp reduction in the percentage of REM sleep (infancy - 8 hours, Age 70 - 1 hour)

brain activity experienced story-like sensations and perceptions; happens all stages of sleep; most bizarre, vivid dreams in REM sleep; daytime activities may influence dream content

intentionally directing dream content (aware of dreaming); may last a few seconds or for many minutes

dreams are a disguised form of wish fulfillment; content of dreams: manifest content and latent content

what you see in the dream (dream about riding a horse)

the hidden meaning of what you see (horseback riding might signify sexual desire)