CS - Consciousness Module Overview

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Consciousness

consciousnessConsciousness is a state of awareness of yourself and your environment. You might think that you are fully conscious whenever you're awake and unconscious only when you sleep. Throughout the day, though, your awareness of yourself and your environment varies. In this unit you will learn about sleep, an essential state of consciousness, and read about theories of sleep, the stages of sleep, sleep disorders, and the role of dreams. You will also study psychoactive drugs and how they interact with the central nervous system to alter consciousness. Finally, you will learn about hypnosis, determining if this is a real state of consciousness.

Essential Questions

  • What are the states of consciousness?
  • What are the parts of the sleep cycle?
  • What is a circadian rhythm?
  • Why do we sleep and dream?
  • Is hypnosis a state of consciousness?
  • What are the psychological issues related to addiction?
  • How do drugs affect neurotransmission and behavior?

Key Words

  1. Consciousness - our awareness of ourselves and our environment
  2. Circadian rhythm - the biological clock; regular bodily rhythms (for example, of temperature and wakefulness) that occur on a 24-­hour cycle
  3. REM sleep - rapid eye movement sleep, a recurring sleep stage during which vivid dreams commonly occur. Also known as paradoxical sleep, because the muscles are relaxed (except for minor twitches) but other body systems are active
  4. nREM sleep - the other stages of sleep during which dreams do not typically occur; aka non-REM sleep
  5. Deep sleep - nREM 3 sleep during which the body experiences physical restoration and growth  
  6. Melatonin - the sleep-causing hormone produced by the pineal gland when it gets dark
  7. REM Rebound - the tendency for REM sleep to increase following REM sleep deprivation (created by repeated awakenings during REM sleep)
  8. Dream - a sequence of images, emotions, and thoughts passing through a sleeping person's mind. Dreams are notable for their hallucinatory imagery, discontinuities, and incongruities, and for the dreamer's delusional acceptance of the content and later difficulties remembering it
  9. Freud's wish fulfillment theory - states that dreams are a way for the unconscious mind to fulfill its inappropriate desires  
  10. Manifest content - the obvious storyline of a dream, according to Freud
  11. Latent content - the hidden meaning of a dream, according to Freud
  12. Information processing theory - states that dreams help process memories from the day
  13. Activation synthesis hypothesis - states that dreams are the brain's attempt to interpret random electrical firing during sleep
  14. Hypnosis - a social interaction in which one person (the hypnotist) suggests to another (the subject) that certain perceptions, feelings, thoughts or behaviors will spontaneously occur
  15. Posthypnotic suggestion - a suggestion, made during a hypnosis session, to be carried out after the subject is no longer hypnotized; used by some clinicians to help control undesired symptoms and behaviors
  16. Posthypnotic amnesia - after hypnosis, being unable to remember what happened during hypnosis; does not always happen  
  17. Psychoactive drug - a chemical substance that alters perceptions and mood
  18. Agonist - a drug that mimics a neurotransmitter, thereby causing a neuron to fire
  19. Antagonist - a drug that stops a neuron from firing
  20. Reuptake Inhibitors - a drug that stops reuptake, thereby causing a neuron to fire  
  21. Tolerance - the diminishing psychoactive effect that occurs with regular use of a drug, requiring the user to take longer and larger doses in order to experience the drug's effect
  22. Withdrawal - the discomfort and distress that follow discontinuing the use of an addictive drug
  23. Physical dependence - a physiological need for a drug, marked by unpleasant withdrawal symptoms when the drug is discontinued
  24. Psychological dependence - a psychological need to use a drug, such as to relieve negative emotions
  25. Stimulant - drugs that excite neural activity and speed up body functions
  26. Depressant - drugs that reduce neural activity and slow body functions
  27. Hallucinogens - psychedelic drugs that distort perceptions and evoke sensory images in the absence of sensory input
  28. Barbiturates - depress the central nervous system; effects range from drowsiness to death
  29. Opiates - mimic the brain's natural painkillers (endorphins) to relieve pain and produce feelings of euphoria
  30. Amphetamines - drugs that stimulate neural activity, causing speeded up body functions and associated energy mood changes
  31. LSD - a powerful hallucinogenic drug; also known as acid
  32. THC - the major active ingredient in marijuana; triggers a variety of effects, including mild hallucinations
  33. Methamphetamine - a powerfully addictive drug that stimulates the central nervous system, increasing energy and elevating mood; over time, reduces natural dopamine levels

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