AP Psychology Notes

Chapter Outlines

Chapter 5: States of Consciousness

Overview
1. Dualism vs. Monism
  1. Dualism
    1. humans consist of thought and matter
      1. matter- everything that has substance
      2. thought - nonmaterial. Arises from, but is independent of the brain. Gives humans free will.
  2. Monism
    1. thought and matter are aspects of the same substance
    2. thought stops existing when the body dies
2. Consciousness
  1. Our level of awareness about ourselves and our environment
Levels of Consciousness
1. Mere-Exposure Effect
  1. We prefer stimuli that we have seen before over novel stimuli, even if we don’t consciously remember seeing it
2. Priming
  1. Research participants respond more quickly/accurately to questions they’ve seen before, even if they don’t remember it
3. Blind Sight
  1. One level of consciousness isn’t getting visual information
  2. Their behavior demonstrates that another level can see
  3. They report being blind
4. Types of Levels
  1. Conscious level
    1. information about yourself and your environment that you are aware of
  2. Nonconscious level
    1. body processes controlled by the mind that we’re not aware of
  3. Preconscious level
    1. information about yourself or your environment that you aren’t thinking about, but could be
  4. Subconscious level
    1. information of which we aren’t consciously aware
    2. must exist due to behavior
    3. proof: priming and mere exposure effect
  5. Unconscious level
    1. some events/feelings that are unacceptable to the conscious mind are repressed into it
Sleep
1. Sleep Cycle
  1. Circadean rhythm
    1. metabolic and thought processes follow a pattern
  2. Sleep onset
    1. the period when we are falling asleep
    2. possible mild hallucinations
    3. alpha waves
      1. produced when we are drowsy but awake
  3. Theta waves
    1. high frequency, low amplitude
    2. as we go from awake to stage 1 to stage 2, they get slower and higher in amplitude
    3. stage 1, stage 2, awake
  4. Sleep spindles
    1. stage 2
    2. short bursts of rapid brain waves
  5. Delta sleep
    1. stages 3 and 4
    2. slow-wave sleep
    3. delta waves
    4. the slower the waves, the deeper the sleep
  6. REM sleep
    1. dreams occur
    2. improves memory
    3. rapid eye movement
    4. intense brain activity
    5. paralysis, though a few muscle twitches
    6. paradoxical sleep
  7. REM rebound
    1. if deprived of REM sleep the previous night, we will spend more time in REM
2. Sleep Disorders
  1. Insomnia
    1. recurring problems in falling or staying asleep
    2. affects 10% of the population
    3. sleeping pills disturb sleep patterns
  2. Narcolepsy
    1. periods of intense sleepiness
    2. may fall asleep at unpredictable times
    3. may fall right into REM
    4. affects less than .001% of the population
  3. Sleep apnea
    1. as common as insomnia
    2. causes you to stop breathing for short periods of time at night
      1. wake up slightly and gasp for air
      2. won’t remember waking up
    3. affects attention, memory, energy
    4. prevents deep sleep
    5. high risk group: overweight men
  4. Night terrors and somnambulism (sleep walking)
    1. more common in children
    2. early in the night; stage 4
    3. not remembered in the morning
3. Dreams
  1. Freudian psychoanalysis
    1. emphasizes dream interpretation as a way to uncover information in the unconscious mind
    2. dreams are wish fulfilling
      1. in dreams we act out our unconscious desires
    3. manifest content
      1. the literal storyline of dreams
      2. latent content- the unconscious meaning of it
      3. the ego protects us from information in the unconscious mind… “protected sleep”
  2. Activation-synthesis theory
    1. dreams are the brain’s interpretation of what is happening physiologically during REM sleep
  3. Information-processing theory
    1. the function of REM is to integrate information processed during the day into our memory
    2. support:
      1. stress increases the number and the intensity of our dreams
      2. dream content often relates to daily concerns
      3. babies REM more
Hypnosis
1. Posthypnotic Amnesia
  1. Forgetting events that occurred while you were under hypnosis
2. Posthypnotic Suggestion
  1. A suggestion that a hypnotized person behave in a certain way after hypnosis ends
3. Role Theory
  1. During hypnosis, people act out the role of a hypnotized person because they are expected to
  2. Hypnosis is a social phenomenon
  3. Hypnotic suggestability
    1. ability to be hypnotized
    2. higher in people who:
      1. have rich fantasy lives
      2. can focus intensely on a single task for a long time
      3. follow directions well
4. State Theory
  1. Hypnosis is an altered state of consciousness
5. Dissociation Theory
  1. Ernest Hilgard
  2. Hypnosis causes a voluntary split in consciousness
    1. one level responds to the suggestions of the hypnotist
    2. the other level retains awareness of reality
  3. Ice water bath experiment
    1. subjects felt pain but reported none
    2. demonstrates the presence of a hidden observer
      1. a level of our consciousness that monitors what is happening while another level obeys the hypnotist
Drugs
1. Psychoactive Drugs
  1. Chemicals that change the chemistry of the brain
  2. Induce an altered state of consciousness
  3. The effects are due both to expectations and physiological processes
  4. Blood-brain barrier
    1. thick walls surrounding the brain’s blood vessels
    2. molecules of psychoactive drugs are small enough to pass through it
  5. Agonists
    1. mimic neurotransmitters
  6. Antagonists
    1. prevent neurotransmitters from entering receptor sites, but don’t mimic their functions
  7. Tolerance
    1. caused by a physiological change
    2. more of the same drug is needed for the same effect
    3. cause withdrawal symptoms
2. Stimulants
  1. Speed up body processes
    1. autonomic nervous system
  2. Produce a sense of euphoria
  3. Caffeine, cocaine, amphetamines, nicotine
  4. Disturb sleep, reduce appetite, increase anxiety, cause heart problems
3. Depressants
  1. Slow down body systems
  2. Alcohol, barbiturates, anxiolytics (tranquilizers, antianxiety drugs)
  3. Cause euphoria
  4. Alcohol
    1. slows reactions/judgment
    2. affects motor coordination
4. Hallucinations (Psychedelics)
  1. Cause changes in perception of reality
    1. sensory hallucinations
    2. loss of identity
    3. vivid fantasies
  2. Unpredictable effects
  3. LSD, peyote, psilocybin mushrooms, marijuana
  4. Reverse tolerance
    1. second dose may be less than first but cause greater effects
    2. the drug lingers in the body for weeks
5. Opiates
  1. Morphine, heroin, methadone, codeine
  2. Similar in chemical structure to opium
    1. a drug derived from the poppy plant
  3. Act as agonists for endorphins
    1. pain killers
    2. mood elevators
  4. Cause drowsiness and euphoria
  5. Very physically addictive
    1. rapidly change brain chemistry and create tolerance/withdrawal

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Aboukhadijeh, Feross. "Chapter 5: States of Consciousness" StudyNotes.org. Study Notes, LLC., 12 Oct. 2013. Web. 06 Oct. 2024. <https://www.apstudynotes.org/psychology/outlines/chapter-5-states-of-consciousness/>.

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Chapter 5: States of Consciousness

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