Summary PSY1005S Exam Notes: Conciousness

CONSCIOUSNESS
NOTES

,The Puzzle of Consciousness
What is consciousness?
 Moment-to-Moment Awareness
o External & Internal Stimuli
 Dynamic
o Constantly shifting & changing
 Self-reflective
o Central to our sense of self
 Subjective & Personal
o Problematic construct


Why do we have consciousness?
 Allows us to
o Make sense of stimuli being experienced
 Facilitates planning & decision making
o Take control of situations
 Override automatic, potentially dangerous behaviours
o Deal with unusual situations & tasks


How do we measure consciousness?
Self-Report Measures
 Ask people to describe their inner experiences
 Problematic for research

Behavioural Measures
 Record performance on special tests
o Glasgow Coma Scale
o The Mirror Test

Physiological Measures
 Establish connection between bodily processes & mental states
o Electroencephalograph measures brain activity

,Levels of consciousness
Freudian Viewpoint
Tip of the iceberg= Conscious Level




Cognitive Viewpoint
 Conscious & unconscious mental life are complimentary forms of
information processing
o work in harmony
Selective Attention
 Focussing awareness on some stimuli while ignoring others
 Fundamental component of consciousness
Controlled (conscious/explicit) Processing
 Conscious use of attention
 Slower & more flexible
o Automatic (unconscious/implicit) Processing
 Used in activities performed without awareness / effort
 Fast & routine action
Divided Attention
 Attending to more than one activity at a time

,Unconscious perception
Visual Agnosia
 Inability to recognise objects visually

Blindsight
 Occurs when an individual is blind
o But can still respond to stimuli

Priming
 Exposure to a stimulus influences responses to subsequent stimuli
o Subliminal stimuli

Emotional Unconscious
 Emotional & motivational processes operate unconsciously
o Influences behaviour


Neural bases of consciousness
 No single brain region is responsible
 Consciousness is a global workspace
o Represents the unified activity of multiple brain areas
 Extended Reticular Thalamic Activating System (RAS)
o 1950s – Damage to this system leads to a comatose state
o Present in all vertebrates
 Dogs
 Lizards
 Snakes
o Not present in bees, ants, jellyfish
o Part of brainstem
 Generally brainstem is NB for consciousness

,Circadian Rhythms
 24-hour biological clock
o Normally regulated by light & dark
 Controls
o Body temperature
o Hormones
o Other bodily functions
 Regulated by the Suprachiasmatic Nuclei (SCN)
o In hypothalamus
o Obtains information about light through the eye
o SCN  Pineal Gland  Melatonin
o Active during the day
 Reduced melatonin
o Inactive at night
 Increased melatonin


Circadian Disruptions
Jet Lag
 Acute exposure to circadian desynchronisation
 Flying across time zones
o Exposes one to a new light-dark cycle
o Biological clock keeps time
 “Official” clock time changes
o Big problem for people who do it often
 Symptoms
o Headaches
o Fatigue
o Insomnia
o constipation/diarrhoea
o concentration problems
o mood disturbances
 Travelling west is easier
o can adapt by staying up late

Night Shifts
 Chronic exposure to circadian desynchronisation
 Work in opposition to natural sleep-wake cycle
o May lead to poor quality sleep
o May lead to social disruptions
 Can cause
o Fatigue
o Stress
o Accidents

, Seasonal Affective Disorder
 Cyclic tendency to become depressed during certain seasons
o Usually autumn & winter
o Throughout rest of year people are mentally healthy
 Same symptoms as a depression
o Considered a mood disorder
o Light Therapy used as treatment
 First described by someone who moved from “sunny” South Africa to New
York