Chapter 4- Psychological Science Michael S. Gazzaniga 6th Edition PDF

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Chapter 4 Consciousness – One’s subjective experience of the world, resulting from brain activity. Conscious awareness involves attention. 4.1 Brain Activity Gives Rise to Consciousness Dualism: the mind and brain are two different things – theory now discredited. Created by Descartes. Global Workspace Model: posits that consciousness arises as a function of which brain circuits are active: you experience your brain regions’ output as conscious awareness. 4.2 Consciousness Changes Following Brain Injury Traumatic brain injury: impairment in mental functioning caused by sharp movement of the head – e.g., crashes or sports. Can impare thinking, memory, and personality. • Concussions: considered mild TBIs but can have cumulative effects. • Coma: cannot respond to external stimuli. Coma victims can now survive. Hard to know if they are conscious. Some are aware. • Unresponsive wakefulness syndrome or vegetative state: condition after emerging from coma but still do not respond to external stimuli after a month. Still showing some brain function. Brain death: irreversible loss of all brain functions and activity. Locked-in syndrome: all voluntary muscles are paralyzed – total awareness but no speaking or moving. 4.3 Conscious Awareness Involves Attention Automatic vs controlled processing: Kahneman’s system 1 vs system 2 • Automatic: driving, walking, understanding meaning of words • Controlled: giving a speech, things that require deliberate thinking Selective attention: our ability to perceive multiple stimuli at once and focus on the one we’re interested • Shadowing: technique where you receive two auditory inputs and you repeat one of the inputs out loud Change blindness: a failure to notice large changes in one's environment; results from inattention to certain visual information Unconscious influence: Freudian slips – voicing an unconscious thought at the wrong time or context; smell of food malls is also an unconscious influence

4.4 Are People Affected by Subliminal Messages? Subliminal perception: idea that people can be influence by hidden messages; e.g., an Al Gore ad on TV displayed “RATS” for 1/30 of a second to influence perception • Research has shown that subliminal messages can have tremendous influence on decision-making (displaying ‘THIRST’ to get people to buy Coke / Kool Aid) 4.5 Sleep is an Altered State of Consciousness Circadian rhythms: biological patterns that occur at regular intervals as a function of time of the day (circadian = about a day) • The SLEEPLESS gene reduces action potentials in the brain, inducing sleep • Your conscious experience of outside world is largely shut off during sleep Electroencephalograph (EEG): measures brain’s electrical activity, used to track waves during sleep • Beta waves (awake): short, frequent, irregular signals • Alpha waves (just before sleep): slower, more regular signals when people focus or close their eyes and relax • Theta waves: short bursts of irregular waves during stage 1 • Sleep spindle and K-complex (large waves): breathing more regularly and less sensitive to external information o Experience less sleep spindles as you age • Delta waves: slow-wave sleep

REM sleep: the stage of sleep marked by rapid eye movements, dreaming, and paralysis of motor systems; also called paradoxical sleep; some brain functions are more active during REM than during awake hours • REM is the sleep cycle most associated with dreaming • Sleep cycle reverses at 90 mins, returning to phase 1

Melatonin: hormone responsible for promoting sleep 4.6 Sleep Disorders Interfere with Daily Life Insomnia: sleep disorder in which people’s mental health and ability to function in daily life are compromised by difficulty both falling asleep and staying awake • Most successful treatment for insomnia à drug treatment and cognitive-behavioral therapy • It’s not insomnia if there is no impairment in people’s daily lives or impact on mental health Obstructive sleep apnea: a disorder in which a person, while asleep, stops breathing because his or her throat closes; the condition results in frequent awakenings during the night • Symptoms include loud snoring; can cause fatigue, inability to focus, and cardiovascular problems Narcolepsy: a sleep disorder in which people experience excessive sleepiness during normal waking hours, sometimes going limp and collapsing • Sleepiness can last from seconds to minutes during waking hours; muscle paralysis might be the same as in REM sleep • Treated with stimulants • Said to be a genetic condition REM behavior disorder: normal paralyses that accompanies REM sleep is disabled; people act out their dreams while sleeping; often striking their sleeping partners Somnambulism: sleepwalking during slow-wave sleep; glassy-eyed and disconnected from their surroundings

4.7 Sleep is an Adaptive Behavior Different animals have different sleeping styles: e.g., dolphins have unihemispherical sleep à cerebral hemispheres take turns while sleeping Sleep is adaptive for three functions: 1. Restoration, 2. Following of circadian rhythms, 3. Facilitation of learning Restorative theory: sleep allows body and brain to rest and repair itself • Growth hormone released primarily during deep sleep; sleep enables replenishment of energy stores and strengthens the immune system; cleans metabolic toxins • 2/3 days of sleep deprivation do not have significant impact; but very hard to perform quiet or mundane tasks • Sustained sleep deprivation causes mood problems and decreases cognitive performance (mostly because of toxins accumulating) o Also causes microsleeps, where people fall asleep during the day • Sleep deprivation helps people with depression, increases serotonin receptor activation Circadian rhythm theory: sleep has evolved to keep animals quiet and inactive during times of greatest danger (i.e., when it’s dark) • Animals need only a limited amount of time each day to accomplish the necessities of survival, and it is adaptive for them to spend the remainder of the time inactive • Small animals sleep a lot; large animals vulnerable to attack sleep little Facilitation of learning: neural connecting made during the day are strengthened during sleep • When you sleep after learning, you remember more than when you remain awake • Finding that students who study more experience more REM sleep 4.8 People Dream While Sleeping Dreams: products of an altered state of consciousness in which images and fantasies are confused with reality REM dreams: more bizarre; involve intense emotions, visual and auditory hallucinations • Associated with parts of the brain related to motivation, emotion, reward (amygdala) • Prefrontal cortex is deactivated, so the brain’s emotion centers and visual association areas interact without rational thought during REM dreams Non-REM dreams: often dull, concern mundane activities such as deciding what clothes to wear or taking notes in class Interpreting dreams: • Freud’s theory The Interpretation of Dreams: speculated dreams contain hidden content that represents unconscious conflicts within the mind of the dreamer o No evidence to support this

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Manifest content: the dream the way the dreamer remembers it Latent content: what the dream symbolizes

Activation-synthesis theory: a theory of dreaming; this theory proposes that the brain tries to make sense of random brain activity that occurs during sleep by synthesizing the activity with stored memories • This theory would imply that dreams are side effects of random mental processes during sleep • By John Alan Hobson and Robert McCarley • Has dominated scientific thinking about dreaming 4.9 How Can You Get a Good Night’s Sleep? Four simple sleep hygiene strategies: 1. Plan: create a weekly calendar and schedule your tasks 2. Know your priorities: know which things to do and which ones to skip 3. Stick to the plan: don’t procrastinate 4. Practice saying no: be selective When you can’t fall asleep: 1. Establish a routine to help set biological clock 2. Avoid alcohol and caffeine before going to bed 3. Exercise regularly 4. Bed is only for sleeping 5. Relax 6. Get up 7. Do not try to catch up on sleep 8. Avoid electronic devices late at night

4.10 Hypnosis is Induced Through Suggestion Hypnosis: a social interaction during which a person, responding to suggestions, experiences changes in memory, perception, and/or voluntary action • The listener will follow all the suggestions from the hypnotist • Posthypnotic suggestions can subtly influence behaviors • Not everyone can be hypnotized, and to be hypnotized, the person needs to willingly go along with the suggestions Sociocognitive theory of hypnosis: hypnotized people behave as they expect hypnotized people to behave, even if those expectations are faulty Neodissociation theory of hypnosis: acknowledges the importance of social context to hypnosis, but views hypnotic state as an altered state of consciousness • Hypnosis is a trancelike state in which conscious awareness is separated, or dissociated, from other aspects of consciousness

Hypnotic analgesia: a form of pain reduction through hypnotism; sometimes self-inflicted for surgery recovery • E.g., you can have your arm in freezing water and not feel it when you’re hypnotized 4.11 Meditation Produces Relaxation Meditation: a mental procedure that focuses attention on an external object or on a sense of awareness • Concentrative meditation: focus attention on one thing, such as your breathing pattern, a mental image, or a specific phrase • Mindfulness meditation: let your thoughts flow freely, paying attention to them but trying not to react to them Meditation has been shown to bring about lower blood pressure, cholesterol, and positive changes in hormones • Also associated with stopping the diminishment of gray matter in adults as they age o Also helps preserve cognitive functions over ages 4.12 People Can Love Themselves in Activities Music as a distraction to avoid being conscious about physical exertion while running • Runner’s high: physiological process caused by endorphin release o Comparable to religious ecstasy (changing, dancing…) o Directs attention away from the self Flow: theory on peak experiences • Being in flow à a particular kind of experience that is so engrossing and enjoyable [that it is] worth doing for its own sake even though it may have no consequence outside itself • Completely absorbing and satisfying Escaping the self • People try escaping their problems rather than engaging them: forget troubles, drunk alcohol, play video games, take drugs… o Helps avoid bad feelings about themselves o Claimed to be to reduce self-awareness 4.13 Drugs Alter Brain Neurochemistry Addiction: drug use that remains compulsive despite its negative consequences Psychoactive drugs: mind-altering substances that people typically take for recreational purposes Summary of all psychoactive drugs

4.14 People Use and Abuse Many Psychoactive Drugs Psychoactive Drugs: 1. Cocaine a. Confidence b. Good, alert energetic, sociable and wide awake c. Concentration of dopamine increase in synapses d. Large quantities = paranoia, psychotic behaviour and violence 2. Amphetamines a. Concentration of dopamine increase in synapses b. Used for weight loss and staying awake c. Side effects insomnia, anxiety and potential for addiction d. Legit medical uses: Narcolepsy and ADHD 3. Methamphetamine a. All above + b. Harms memory through frontal lobes and limbic system 4. Opioids a. Oxycodone, morphine and heroin b. Heroin = orgasm

c. Highly addictive d. They increase pleasure by binding with opiate receptors and increase wanting of the drug by indirectly activating dopamine receptors 5. Marijuana a. Widely Used b. Stimulant, depressant, hallucinogen c. Relaxed, uplifted mood d. Impairs and makes vivid perceptions e. Decreases reaction times, motor coordination and memory f. Freq users high quicker g. First time user does not experience a stronger high h. Controversial research on if it makes you stupid i. Cancer, relieve nausea 6. MDMA a. Energizing, Hallucinogenic b. More serotonin than dopamine c. Damages prefrontal cortex and hippocampus d. PTSD treatment e. Occasional use may be fine f. Memory impaired in long term 14.15 Alcohol Abuse is Responsible for Many Societal Problems Alcohol • Depressant • Activating GABA receptors • GABA is the primary inhibitory neurotransmitter in the nervous system • Inhibits neural activity • Spousal abuse and violence • ⅓ Driving accidents • Binge drinking: 5+ drinks • Men drink more than women • Alcohol can interfere with the cognitive processing of threat cues, so that anxietyprovoking events are less troubling when people are intoxicated. This effect occurs, however, only if people drink before the anxiety-provoking events. • Children with positive expectations are more likely to drink • Alcohol impairs motor processing, information processing and mood • Thinking one has consumed alcohol leads to less inhibition 4.16 Addiction has Physical and Psychological Physical: Tolerance: in which a person needs to consume more of a particular substance to achieve the same subjective effect Withdrawal: a physiological and psychological state characterized by feelings of anxiety, tension, and cravings for the addictive substance.

Psychological: No tolerance or withdrawal Dopamine activity in the limbic system leads to wanting feeling. When tolerance increases people “get high,” but to escape the negative feelings of withdrawal. Addiction Vulnerability: • High in sensation seeking (attraction to novelty and risk seeking) • Could be inherited traits • But not a single addiction gene • These inherited risk factors: risk taking and impulsivity, a reduced concern about personal harm, a nervous system chronically low in arousal, or a predisposition to finding chemical substances pleasurable. • People want to fit in to “stoner” group • Parents smoking Addiction Context: • Soldiers have high drug use • But then recover when they no longer need to escape and have goals to focus on...