PSY 1101 Lecture Notes - Lecture 4: Circadian Rhythm, Inattentional Blindness, Rapid Eye Movement Sleep

• School: University of Ottawa
• Department: Psychology
• Course: PSY 1101
• Professor: Gary Capstick

Document Summary

Consciousness was very hard to study- many scientist have turned to. Most psychologists now define consciousness as our awareness of our environment and ourselves. Consciousness helps us with our long-term interests rather than seeking short-term pleasure and avoiding pain. Promotes our survival by anticipating what other people might do and to read their mind he seems angry . Working in the interdisciplinary field of brain studies is called cognitive neuroscience. It is taking the first small step to relating specific brain states to conscious experiences. 23 year old woman who is non communicative who has shown conscious awareness when asked to think of playing tennis. If a stimulus activates enough brain-wide coordinated neural activity with strong signals in one brain area triggering activity elsewhere it crosses a threshold for consciousness. Weak stimulus may trigger visual cortex activity that quickly dies out. A stronger stimulus will engage other brain areas such as those involved with language, attention and memory.