CHAPTER 5. CONSCIOUSNESS AND ALTERED STATES.ppt

This is a ppt on states of consciousness.

1. Chapter 5: States of
Consciousness

2. Some Early Definitions
•Consciousness: All the sensations,
perceptions, memories, and feelings you are
aware of in any instant
–Waking Consciousness: Normal, clear,
organized, alert awareness
•Altered State of Consciousness (ASC):
Awareness that is distinctly different in quality
or pattern from waking consciousness

3. Sleep
•Innate, biological rhythm
•Microsleep: Brief shift in brain-wave patterns
similar to those of sleep
•Sleep Deprivation: Sleep loss; being deprived
of needed amounts of sleep
•Sleep-Deprivation Psychosis: Major
disruption of mental and emotional
functioning that occurs because of sleep loss
•Hypersomnia: Excessive daytime sleepiness

5. Measuring Sleep Changes
•Electroencephalograph (EEG): Brain-wave
machine; amplifies and records electrical
activity in the brain
•Beta Waves: Small fast waves associated
with alertness and awakeness
•Alpha Waves: Large, slow waves associated
with relaxation and falling asleep

6. Stages of Sleep
•Stage 1: Small, irregular waves produced in
light sleep (people may or may not say they
were asleep)
–Hypnic Jerk: Reflex muscle twitch
throughout body that may occur in Stage 1

7. Stage 2
•Deeper sleep; sleep spindles (bursts of
distinctive brain-wave activity) appear

8. Stage 3
•Deeper sleep; Delta waves appear; very large
and slow

9. Stage 4
•Deepest level of normal sleep; almost purely
Delta waves

11. Kinds of Sleep
•Rapid Eye Movements (REM): Associated
with dreaming; sleep is very light
–Body is very still during REM sleep
–Lack of muscle paralysis during REM sleep
is called “REM Behavioral Disorder”
•Non-REM (NREM) Sleep: Occurs during
stages 1, 2, 3, and 4; no rapid eye movement
occurs
–Seems to help us recover from daily
fatigue

13. Sleep Disturbances
•Insomnia: Difficulty in getting to sleep or
staying asleep, or waking early
–Sleeping pills exacerbate insomnia; cause
decrease in REM and Stage 4 sleep and
may cause dependency
•Drug-Dependency Insomnia: Sleeplessness
that follows withdrawal from sleeping pills

14. Types and Causes of Insomnia
•Temporary Insomnia: Brief period of
sleeplessness caused by worry, stress, and
excitement.
–Avoid fighting it and read a book, for
example, until you’re struggling to stay
awake.
•Chronic Insomnia: Exists if sleeping troubles
last for more than three weeks.
–Adopt regular schedule; go to bed at the
same time each night, for example.

15. Sleep Disturbances
•Sleepwalking (Somnambulism): Occurs in
NREM sleep during Stages 3 and 4
•Sleeptalking: Speaking while asleep; occurs
in NREM sleep

16. Nightmares
•Bad dreams that occur during REM sleep
•Imagery Rehearsal: Mentally rehearse the
changed dream before you go to sleep again;
may help to eliminate nightmares

17. Night Terrors
•Total panic and hallucinations may occur
–Occurs during Stage 4 sleep
–Most common in childhood; may occur in
adults

18. Sleep Apnea
•Interrupted breathing during sleep; cause of
very loud snoring
–Hypersomnia: Extreme daytime sleepiness
–Apnea can be treated by
•Surgery
•Weight loss
•Breathing mask

19. Sudden Infant Death Syndrome
•Also known as SIDS or Crib Death; Sudden,
unexplained death of healthy infant (infants
should sleep on back or on side to try to
prevent)
•SIDS babies have a weak arousal reflex;
prevents them from changing positions and
resuming breathing after an apnea episode

20. REM Rebound
•Extra rapid eye movement sleep following
REM sleep deprivation

21. Psychodynamic (Freudian) Theory of
Dreaming
•Emphasizes internal conflicts, motives, and
unconscious forces
•Wish Fulfillment: Freudian belief that many
dreams are expressions of unconscious
desires
–Much evidence to refute this
•Dream Symbols: Images that have a deeper
symbolic meaning

22. Activation-Synthesis Hypothesis
•Dream content may be affected by motor
commands in the brain (that occur during
sleep) that are not carried out

23. Hypnosis
•Altered state of consciousness characterized
by intensely narrowed attention and
increased openness to suggestion
–Mesmer: Believed he could cure diseases
by passing magnets over body; true
“animal magnetism” (“mesmerize” means
to hypnotize)
–Must cooperate to become hypnotized

24. Hidden Observer
•Detached part of hypnotized person’s
awareness that silently observes events

25. Hypnosis Can
•Help people relax
•Reduce pain
•Get people to make better progress in
therapy

26. Hypnosis Cannot
•Produce acts of superhuman strength
•Produce age regression
•Force you to do things against your will

27. Stage Hypnosis
•Simulation of hypnotic effects

28. Tricks of the Trade
•Waking Suggestibility: People on stage do not
want to spoil the act, so they will follow any
instruction.
•Selection of Responsive Subjects: Any
“volunteer” who does not get hypnotized in
the stage group and does not follow
instructions is “voted off.”
•The Hypnosis Label Disinhibits: On stage,
once you are “in a hypnotic trance,” your
responsibility for actions is removed; you can
do whatever you want!

29. More Stage Hypnosis “Tricks of the
Trade”
•Hypnotist as Director: Once they are in a
trance, the “volunteers” are suddenly the
show’s stars, and they will act like it. The
hypnotists only need to direct them.
•Stage Hypnotists Use Tricks: Stage hypnosis
is 50% deception and 50% taking advantage
of the situation

30. More Hypnosis Concepts
•Hypnotic Susceptibility: How easily a person
can be hypnotized
•Basic Suggestion Effect: Tendency of
hypnotized people to carry out suggested
actions as though they were involuntary

31. Meditation
•Mental exercise designed to produce
relaxation or heightened awareness
•Concentrative Meditation: Attention is paid to
a single focal point (i.e., object, thought, etc.)
–Produces relaxation response and thus
works to reduce stress
•Mindfulness Meditation: Based on widening
attention span to become aware of everything
experienced at a given moment
•Mantra: Word(s) or sound(s) repeated during
concentrative meditation

32. Relaxation Response
•Occurs at time of relaxation; internal
response that prevents activation of adrenal
glands

33. Drugs and Altered States of
Consciousness
•Psychoactive Drug: Substance capable of
altering attention, judgment, memory, time
sense, self-control, emotion, or perception
•Stimulant: Substance that increases activity in
body and nervous system
•Depressant: Substance that decreases
activity in body and nervous system

35. Physical Dependence
•Physical Addiction based on drug tolerance
and withdrawal symptoms
–Drug Tolerance: Reduction in body’s
response to a drug
–Withdrawal Symptoms: Physical illness
following withdrawal of the drug

36. Psychological Dependence
•Drug dependence based on psychological or
emotional needs
–Usually crave drug
–Can be as powerful as physiological
addiction

37. Stimulants (Uppers)
•Amphetamines: Synthetic stimulants that
excite the nervous system
–Dexedrine and Methamphetamine are two
types of stimulants
•Amphetamine Psychosis: Loss of contact with
reality because of amphetamine use; user
tends to have paranoid delusions

38. Cocaine
•Central Nervous System stimulant derived
from leaves of coca plant; also used as local
anesthetic
–From 1886-1906, Coca-Cola did indeed
have cocaine in it!
–Highly addictive drug
–Anhedonia (Inability to Feel Pleasure):
Common after cocaine withdrawal

39. MDMA (Ecstasy)
•Chemically similar to amphetamine; created
by small variations in a drug’s structure
–Risks of using MDMA are unclear
–May cause severe liver damage
–Repeated use damages serotonergic brain
cells

40. Caffeine
•Most frequently used psychoactive drug in
North America; present in colas, chocolate,
coffee, and tea
•Causes hand tremors, sweating,
talkativeness, tinnitus, suppresses fatigue or
sleepiness, increases alertness
–May be hazardous to pregnant women if
used excessively

41. Caffeinism
•Physiological dependence on caffeine
–Symptoms: Insomnia, irritability, loss of
appetite, chills, racing heart, elevated body
temperature

43. Nicotine
•Natural stimulant found mainly in tobacco;
known carcinogen
•May cause stomach pain, vomiting, diarrhea,
confusion, tremors
•Addictive
•Sum: Don’t smoke; smoking kills (so does
chewing tobacco)

44. Sedatives: Barbiturates
•Sedative drugs that depress brain activity
–Seconal and Amytal are two types
–Easy to overdose

45. GHB (Gamma-Hydroxybutyrate)
•Central Nervous System (CNS) depressant
that relaxes and sedates; combination of
degreasing solvent and drain cleaner
–Sedative effects may result in nausea, loss
of muscle control, and either sleep or a
loss of consciousness
–Inhibits gag reflex, so some choke to death
on their own vomit
–Addictive and deadly

46. Sedatives: Tranquilizers
•Lower anxiety and reduce tension
–Valium, Xanax, and Librium are three types
–Rohypnol: Related to Valium; lowers
inhibitions and produces relaxation or
intoxication. Larger doses can induce
short-term amnesia and sleep
•Date rape drug because it’s odorless
and tasteless
•Drug Interaction: One drug increases the
effect of another

47. Alcohol
•Ethyl Alcohol: Intoxicating element in
fermented and distilled liquors
–Not a stimulant but does lower inhibitions
–Depressant
•Binge Drinking: Consuming five or more
drinks in a short time; four or more for women
–Serious sign of alcohol abuse

51. Detoxification
•Withdrawal of the person from alcohol
•Occurs in a medical setting and is tightly
controlled
•Often necessary before long-term treatment
begins

52. Some Hallucinogens
•Hallucinogen: Substance that alters or
distorts sensory impressions
•Lysergic Acid Diethylamide (LSD):
Hallucinogen that can produce hallucinations
and other psychotic symptoms
•Mescaline (Peyote) and Psilocybin (Magic
Mushrooms)
•PCP (Angel Dust): Initially can have
hallucinogenic effects; also an anesthetic and
has stimulant and depressant effects

53. Marijuana
•Leaves and flowers of the hemp plant
–Active chemical: THC
–Effects: Relaxation, time distortion,
perceptual distortions

54. Some Health Risks of Using Marijuana
•Increases risk of a variety of cancers,
including prostate and cervical cancer
•Can suppress immune system, perhaps
increasing risk of disease
•Activity levels in the cerebellum are lower
than normal in pot users
•Pot may damage some of the brain’s memory
centers