PSYC100 Lecture Notes - Lecture 11: Sensory Cortex, Unconscious Cognition, Chemical Substance
PSYCH100 - FOUNDATIONS OF PSYCHOLOGY
Wk. 11 – Levels of Consciousness
What is Consciousness?
Medical Definition
Awareness demonstrated by any ability to recall an experience
Psychological Definition
Awareness of the outside world
Awareness of ones mental processes, thoughts, feelings and perceptions
An aspect of many mental processes
The mind-body problem
What Consciousness Does
Theatre View
Consciousness is a single entity
Supported by laws of psychophysics
Parallel distributed processing PDP models
May not be any single form of consciousness
Supported by separate functions of brain regions
Our consciousness has 3 main functions:
1. Consciousness restricts our attention
2. It keeps out brain from being overwhelmed by stimulation by processing
things serially and limiting what we notice and think about
3. Consciousness provides us with a mental ‘meeting place’ where sensation
combines with memory, emotions and motives
William James
Consciousness is a stream – multilayered
Levels of consciousness – variations in quantity
Conscious level – current level of awareness
Non-conscious level – regulation of most autonomic functions
Unconscious level – unperceived mental activity that influences
conscious thought
Neuropsychology of Consciousness
Based on studies of brain damage
Impairments in consciousness
Prosopagnosia
Inability to recognise faces
Linked to damage in the temporal lobes
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Anterograde Amnesia
Inability to form new memories
Linked to damage in the hippocampus
Consciousness States
Waking consciousness is the baseline state
Some states are active, others are passive
Altered states of consciousness involve distinct changes in mental processing
Culture defines what is considered normal
Altered states include:
1. Sleep
2. Hypnosis
3. Psychoactive drugs
Levels of the Non-conscious Mind
There are two levels of the non-conscious mind:
Preconscious
Preconscious memories – information that is not currently in
consciousness, but can be recalled voluntarily
Unconscious
Cognition (thought) without awareness.
Involves levels of brain systems that range from autopilot to those
which have subtle influences on consciousness and behaviours
Freud’s View of Consciousness
According to Freud, there are three levels of consciousness:
1. Conscious: this is the part of the mind that holds what you’re aware of. You
can verbalize about your conscious experience and you can think about it in a
logical fashion
2. Preconscious: ordinary memory. So although things stored here aren’t in the
conscious, they can be readily brought into conscious.
3. Unconscious: Freud felt that this part of the mind was not directly accessible
to awareness.
A dump box for urges, feelings and ideas that are tied to anxiety,
conflict and pain.
These feelings and thoughts have not disappeared and are exerting
influence on our actions and our conscious awareness.
Freud’s Views
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Freud said that the unconscious mind had an especially important role in our
relationships
He said we chose mates who are, on an unconscious level, just substitutes for
our mothers and fathers.
Daydreaming
A common and quite normal variation of consciousness in which attention shifts to
memories, expectations, desires and fantasies and away from the immediate situation
Most people daydream everyday, however, it is much more common amongst
younger adults
Daydreams serve valuable functions such as planning and problem solving
3 Main Biological Rhythms
Circadian Rhythms
Occur once during a 24 hour period
Ex. The sleep-wake cycle
Ultradian Rhythms
Occur more than once a day
Ex. The various stages of sleep each night
Infradian Rhythms
Occur once a month or season
Ex. Bears hibernating
Why We Sleep
Originally psychologists thought we slept because our neurons disconnected from
each other causing us to simply ‘drift off’
In reality, we do not have to complete answers as to what causes us to sleep.
What We Do Know
We do know that the hypothalamus is the control centre for our 24 hour
rhythm of sleep
The hypothalamus senses changes in light and dark and sends neurological
messages to your brain and body that put you to sleep
One of these neurological transmitters is melatonin, a hormone connected to
the wake-sleep cycles that builds up while we sleep.
4 Main Classes of Brain Waves
Beta
14-30 Hz (cycles per second)
Awake
Alpha
8-13 Hz
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Document Summary
Awareness demonstrated by any ability to recall an experience. Awareness of ones mental processes, thoughts, feelings and perceptions. May not be any single form of consciousness. Supported by separate functions of brain regions. Our consciousness has 3 main functions: consciousness restricts our attention. It keeps out brain from being overwhelmed by stimulation by processing things serially and limiting what we notice and think about: consciousness provides us with a mental meeting place" where sensation combines with memory, emotions and motives. Levels of consciousness variations in quantity. Conscious level current level of awareness. Non-conscious level regulation of most autonomic functions. Unconscious level unperceived mental activity that influences conscious thought. Linked to damage in the temporal lobes. Some states are active, others are passive. Altered states of consciousness involve distinct changes in mental processing. Altered states include: sleep, hypnosis, psychoactive drugs. There are two levels of the non-conscious mind:
