PSY 2012 General PsychologyChapter 3: States Consciousness

Samuel R. Mathews, Ph.D.Associate Professor

The Department of PsychologyThe University of West Florida

States of Consciousness

• Think of your walk to class. What do you see?

• Think of your last time to eat in a restaurant off campus. – What did you have to eat?– What did the main course taste like?

States of Consciousness

• What is consciousness?

• Where is consciousness located?

• What does it mean to alter our state of consciousness?

• What does it mean to lose consciousness?

What is consciousness?

• Zimbardo et al. (2006):– “The process by which the brain creates a

model of internal and external experience.” pg. 90

What is consciousness?

• Vaitl, et al. (2005): Dimensions of consciousness:– Activation:

• highly aroused to highly relaxed state of the organism

– Awareness span: • wide-ranging focus to narrowly focused attention

What is consciousness?

– Self awareness– Absorption of sense of self in the present to forgetting

oneself

– Sensory dynamics• Intense sensory experience to unaltered sensory

experience

Factors Impacting States of ConsciousnessVaitl, et al. (2005)

• Intact brain tissue– Changes can come from injury, drugs, etc.

• Balanced metabolic system– Brain chemistry, nutrients, etc.

• Moderate level of arousal– Balance between sympathetic and parasympathetic

systems

Factors Impacting States of Consciousness Vaitl, et al. (2005)

• Balance between excitatory and inhibitory networks– Neurotransmitters and neuroinhibitors functioning normally

(see chapter 2; can be impacted by drugs or disease)

• Midrange environmental conditions– Intensity, frequency, & duration are within the working and

adaptive range of the sense organs

• Alteration of any one or combination of these conditions can lead to an altered state of consciousness

The Conscious, Preconscious and Unconscious Mind

• Conscious mind– Contains the contents of our immediate

experiences (Vaitl’s awareness span)

– Information in the conscious mind can be purposefully manipulated

– Distractible yet can be controlled

The Conscious, Preconscious and Unconscious Mind

• Preconscious mind– Contains memory traces that can be recalled

with relative ease

– Most likely associated with information that can be retrieved from our “long term” memory (memories that are retained over time)

The Conscious, Preconscious and Unconscious Mind

• Unconscious mind:– Multiple interpretations

• Freud—locus of deep seated and largely inaccessible drives and desires; only accessible through psychotherapy

• Neuroscience—those processes operating below the level of consciousness (see example of priming, pg. 96 of Zimbardo et al., 2006)

States of Consciousness

• Daydreaming—likely a sense of drift in the awareness span– Unintentional thoughts; not goal directed– Decreased vigilance to immediate

surroundings

States of Consciousness• Sleep—likely a change in activation,

sensory dynamics– Sleep Cycle (REM, NonREM)

• Circadian Rhythms—normal sleep-wake cycle based on an approximately 24hour cycle

• Likely controlled by a function of the hypothalamus• Sensitive to dark-light cycles

– Sleep Deprivation• Less than 7 to 9 hours of sleep can create

dysfunctional performance• Lowered cognitive performance• Drowsiness• Sleep deprivation and moderate alcohol

impairment similar

States of Consciousness

• Sleep—Dreaming– Sense of virtual reality– Typically visual sensations– Some covert speech– Increased motor activity– Sense of social interaction– Typically contains a narrative structure

• (Vaitl, et al., 2005)

States of Consciousness

• Sleep—Dreaming– Contents of our dreams vary by culture and

individual experiences (e.g. gender)– Dreams during REM tend to be remembered

better than dreams during non-REM sleep

States of Consciousness

• Hypnosis—likely a change in activation, awareness span, self awareness, and sensory dynamics– Individuals who are highly vulnerable to

suggestion are most easily hypnotized– Hypnosis linked to increased awareness,

lower activation, suggestibility– Hypnosis like states include concentration in

Lamaze method

States of Consciousness

• Meditation—likely a change in activation, awareness span, self awareness, and sensory dynamics– Frequently associated with frontal lobe changes– Increases sense of control over consciousness

• Activation: typically relaxed• Awareness span: can range from wide to narrow• Self awareness: can range from absorption to

dissociation• Sensory dynamics: typically enhanced sensory

experience

States of Consciousness• Psychoactive Drug States—likely a change in

activation, awareness span, self awareness, and sensory dynamics– Balanced metabolic system: can bring about

changes in metabolic rates– Moderate level of arousal: depressants

decrease arousal; stimulants increase arousal– Balance between excitatory (neurotransmitters)

and inhibitory (neuroinhibitors) networks: depressants reduce transmitters stimulants increase transmitters and decrease inhibitors