Psych Chapter 3 Conciousness, Sleep, Dreams
Consciousness: awareness of the outside world and one’s own mental processes, thoughts, feelings, and perceptions
But, there is much non-conscious information we are not aware of that our brain is processing, but we are processing
Dual processing: conscious and unconscious
Ex: typing my notes – I don’t tell each finger where to go, but my brain is processing that
Ex: girl getting EEG, a spike appears on it, .25 seconds later your hand moves without you knowing, .35 seconds later you become aware that you moved your hand
Cocktail party effect: you are talking to one person at a party, and you suddenly hear your name, so you turn your head – your brain was unconsciously processing multiple conversations in the room, then once your name is called, your brain brings it to consciousness
Consciousness: not much info, but we are aware of it and it can immediately guides our actions
Non-conscious: massive amount of sensory information, but you are unaware (unless brought to consciousness)
- Selective attention: focusing you consciousness on a single thing
- Inattention Blindness: information that is not attended too – you are “blind to it”
- Change blindness: your inability to detect when things change in your environment
Sleep: body regulated function that happens on a circadian rhythm
Circadian rhythm: occurs on a 24 hour cycle and include sleep and wakefulness. Termed our “biological clock”, and it can be altered by artificial light
Melatonin: makes us sleep
The older we get, the less melatonin we get, which makes us sleep less as we are older
Released by pineal gland
Light triggers the suprachiasmatic nucleus to decrease (morning) melatonin from pineal gland and increase (evening) it at nightfall
Sleep theories:
Protects us
Helps us recover
Helps us remember
May play a role in growth process
Sleep deprivation:
Fatigue and subsequent death
Impaired concentration
Emotional irritability
Depressed immune system
Greater vulnerability
Sleep
But, there is much non-conscious information we are not aware of that our brain is processing, but we are processing
Dual processing: conscious and unconscious
Ex: typing my notes – I don’t tell each finger where to go, but my brain is processing that
Ex: girl getting EEG, a spike appears on it, .25 seconds later your hand moves without you knowing, .35 seconds later you become aware that you moved your hand
Cocktail party effect: you are talking to one person at a party, and you suddenly hear your name, so you turn your head – your brain was unconsciously processing multiple conversations in the room, then once your name is called, your brain brings it to consciousness
Consciousness: not much info, but we are aware of it and it can immediately guides our actions
Non-conscious: massive amount of sensory information, but you are unaware (unless brought to consciousness)
- Selective attention: focusing you consciousness on a single thing
- Inattention Blindness: information that is not attended too – you are “blind to it”
- Change blindness: your inability to detect when things change in your environment
Sleep: body regulated function that happens on a circadian rhythm
Circadian rhythm: occurs on a 24 hour cycle and include sleep and wakefulness. Termed our “biological clock”, and it can be altered by artificial light
Melatonin: makes us sleep
The older we get, the less melatonin we get, which makes us sleep less as we are older
Released by pineal gland
Light triggers the suprachiasmatic nucleus to decrease (morning) melatonin from pineal gland and increase (evening) it at nightfall
Sleep theories:
Protects us
Helps us recover
Helps us remember
May play a role in growth process
Sleep deprivation:
Fatigue and subsequent death
Impaired concentration
Emotional irritability
Depressed immune system
Greater vulnerability
Sleep