Created by Sukhmani Randhawa
almost 10 years ago
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Question | Answer |
CONSCIOUSNESS | Awareness we have of our external surroundings and internal processes at any given moment. |
CONSCIOUSNESS CAN BE: | Personal: Subjective understanding of the external world - varies for individuals Selective: Consciously choose to shift our attention Continuous: Never empty - always aware of something Changing: We shift attention to new stimuli when bought into our awareness |
STATE OF CONSCIOUSNESS | The level of awareness we have of our mental processes and external surroundings Varies at different times |
NORMAL WAKING CONSCIOUSNESS | Refers to the states of consciousness associated with being awake and aware of thoughts, feelings, memories and sensations we are experiencing from the outside world |
ATTENTION | Mental activity which involves focusing on specific stimuli whilst ignoring others Can be focused internally or externally |
SELECTIVE ATTENTION | Choosing to focus on a certain stimuli whilst ignoring others. Fail to notice other information while using selective attention |
DIVIDED ATTENTION | Ability to distribute our attention and focus on more than one activity at the same time Depends on how much conscious effort is required to do a task. |
CONTENT LIMITATIONS IN NORMAL WAKING CONSCIOUSNESS | Content held in Normal Waking Consciousness is more restricted/limited because we can selectively control what we pay attention to and block unwanted information. Information is organised/logical |
CONTROLLED PROCESSES | Use selective attention Tasks are difficult/complex Requires high conscious awareness and mental effort Parallel - can only preform one at a time Used when tasks are unfamiliar |
AUTOMATIC PROCESSES | Easier/less complex Little conscious awareness and mental effort Series - can preform more than one task at a time. |
ALTERED STATE OF CONSCIOUSNESS (ASC) | Refers to any state of consciousness distinctly different (in terms of level of awareness, experience and quality/intensity of sensations, perseptions, thoughts, feelings and memories) from NWC |
DISTORTIONS OF PERCEPTION IN ASC | Makes senses more receptive to external stimuli, eg. colours brighter, sounds louder OR Dulls senses to point were sensations aren't felt at all People may lose their sense of identity |
DISTORTIONS OF COGNITION IN ASC | Thought processes are disorganised Thinking is illogical/lacking in sequence Trouble remembering events that occur whilst in ASC Recalling info from long term memory is difficult |
TIME ORIENTATION IN ASC | Estimation of time is frequently distorted Time seems to pass at a different speed than normal |
CHANGES IN EMOTIONAL AWARENESS IN ASC | Individuals may have uncharacteristic responses Inappropriate emotions Unpredictable emotional responses |
DAYDREAMING | ASC where awareness shifts from external stimuli to internal processes Occurs naturally Occurs when stationary/doing routine or boring activities May be consciousness responding to unchanging external world |
HOW IS DAY DREAMING DIFFERENT TO NIGHT DREAMS? | Daydreams have minimal eye movement high levels of alpha brain waves content is less organised/meaningful |
MEDITATIVE STATE | Use of a technique to deliberately alter normal waking consciousness in order to induce an ASC. characterised by a deep state of relaxation. involves altering the normal flow of conscious thoughts. |
PSYCHOACTIVE DRUG | Chemicals that change conscious awareness, perceptions or moods eg. Alcohol |
DEPRESSANT | Produces mild euphoria by depressing brain centres responsible for inhibition, judgement and self control eg. Alcohol |
PSYCHOLOGICAL CONSTRUCT | Constructed to describe specific psychological activities or patterns Cannot be directly measured but believed to exist Can only be inferred through behaviour or physiological measurements |
ELECTROENCEPHALOGRAPH (EEG) | Detects, Amplifies, Records electrical activity of the brain associated with different mental processes/behavioural responses |
BETA WAVES | NWC, Alert, Awake High frequency Low amplitude |
ALPHA WAVES | NWC, relaxed, wakeful, meditative High frequency Low amplitude |
THETA WAVES | ASC, early stages of sleep Medium frequency High + Low amplitude |
DELTA WAVES | Associated with deepest stages of sleep Lowest Frequency Highest amplitude |
GALVANIC SKIN RESPONSE | Measures electrical conductivity of skin more sweat = higher electrical conductivity = higher emotional arousal |
SLEEP | Regularly occurring ASC which occurs spontaneously and characterised by a loss of consciousness |
POLYSOMNOGRAPHY | Intensive study of a sleeping person involving simultaneous monitoring and recording of various physiological responses during the night |
SLEEP LABORATORIES | Where sleep research takes place |
ELECTROMYOGRAPH (EMG) | Used to detect, record and Amplify electrical activity of muscles |
ELECTROOCULARGRAPH (EOG) | Used to detect, amplify and record electrical activity of the muscles that control eye movement |
BODY TEMPERATURE DURING SLEEP | Drops as we go into deeper stages and rises as we come back into lighter sleep. |
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