Psychology Unit 4.1 PDF

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Unit 4.1...

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STATE OF CONSCIOUSNESS AND SLEEP  Consciousness as a psychological construct that varies along a continuum, broadly categorised into normal waking consciousness and altered states of consciousness (naturally occurring and induced) 4.1.1   Consciousness - refers to our level of awareness of our internal world, that is, our own personal thoughts, feelings and perceptions, external world, that is, our surroundings during any particular time, as well as our own existence.  It is considered a hypothetical construct  because it cannot be directly measured or observed.  Psychologists describe consciousness as a continuum. It is not ‘all or nothing’ as our degree of awareness varies at different times and depending on what we are doing.  Personal: it is your subjective (‘personalised’) understanding of both your unique internal world and the external environment. Selective: voluntarily shift your attention from the words on the page to a voice in the room or the memory of last Saturday Continuous: there is never a time in the course of a typical day when your consciousness is ‘empty’ Changing: new information continually coming into awareness, particularly while you are awake.  Psychological construct: refers to hypothetical ideas regarding a phenomenon that is believed to exist however cannot be directly measured or observed.  Consciousness as a CONTINUUM:                

 State of Consciousness - refers to the level of awareness of internal and external events  Normal Waking Consciousness (NWC) ➢ Refers to the states of consciousness associated with being awake and aware of objects and events in the external world, and of one’s sensations, mental experiences and own existence ➢ It forms a basic standard that allows judgement of all other states of consciousness ➢ Includes all states of consciousness that involve heightened awareness ➢ This doesn’t mean that all our waking time is spent in the same state of consciousness ➢ We continually shift between different states, and therefore levels of awareness within NWC  Altered State of Consciousness ➢ Any state of consciousness that is different from normal waking consciousness in relation to one’s level of awareness, perceptions, memories, thinking, emotions, behaviours and sense of time, place, and self-control ➢ Can measure if someone is in an altered state of consciousness by looking at their brain activity ➢ Can be induced deliberately (drugs, sleep, meditation) or naturally (fever)  Types of altered states of consciousness 1. Daydreaming - a naturally occurring altered state of consciousness where there is a shift in awareness from external event to internal thoughts 2. Meditation - a purposely induced state of consciousness, where an individual is highly focused on internal though at the expense of other stimuli 3. Alcohol induced state - a purposely  induced altered state of consciousness, where a substance slows or depresses the brain and nervous system  Controlled & Automatic Processes  Automatic processes - Activities that require little awareness and mental effort, and do not interfere with other activities enabling us to complete two tasks at once (divided attention) - Enables divided attention - Eg. An experienced driver may be able to engage in a conversation whilst performing some of the tasks of driving with little awareness, such as maintaining the speed without paying attention to the speedometer  Controlled processes - Activities that require alert awareness and mental effort. Because these processes require our full attention (selective attention), more than one controlled processes cannot be completed simultaneously, otherwise it will only cause interference between the two - Attention is prevented from being focused on other tasks/issues - Eg. An inexperienced driver driving a vehicle through heavy traffic

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 Attention - Relates to the information that is being actively processing, either consciously or outside conscious awareness  Divided attention

The ability to divide our attention and carry out two or more activities at once  Distributing our attention and undertake multiple activities simultaneously  Depends on how much conscious effort is required for the various tasks in which we are engaged 

Selective attention

Selectively attending to certain stimuli while ignoring other stimuli  Illustrates that at any given moment the focus of our awareness is on only a limited range of all that we are capable of experiencing

 Perception: Process of organising sensory input (internal and external) and interpreting it  Cognition: Relates to mental activities such as thinking, problem-solving, reasoning, language  Awareness: Refers to an individual’s level of consciousness of their internal and/or external events  The measurement of physiological responses to indicate different states of consciousness, including electroencephalograph (EEG), electromyograph (EMG), electro-oculography (EOG) and other techniques to investigate consciousness (measurement of speed and accuracy on cognitive tasks, subjective reporting of consciousness, including sleep diaries, and video monitoring) 4.1.2  Studying States of Consciousness  DARE = detects, amplifies, records, electrical activity  Name of device ●

EEG - Electroencephalograph

What is measures -

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DARE activity in the brain in the form of brainwaves by monitoring the electrical activity of the brain which is detectable on the outside of the skull (tiny electrodes are placed on the scalp). Recordings produced are known as electroencephalograms

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 ●

EOG - Electrooculogram

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EMG - Electromyography

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DARE activity of the muscles that control the eye movement  Electrodes are attached to the area around the eyes Recordings produced are known as electrooculogram Indicates whether an individual is in one of the two phases of sleep: o No or very little rapid eye movement → NREM sleep. o Bursts of rapid eye movement → REM sleep

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DARE activity of muscles Electrodes are attached to the skin directly above the muscles (usually the ones under the chin). Indicates whether an individual is awake or asleep, and if asleep, REM or NREM sleep

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 Polysomnogram - A continuous moving chart that displays data collected simultaneously from an EEG, EOG, EMG, and any other devices - Allows researchers to compare a multiple number of recorded data simultaneously, and thus make more informed decisions about the state of consciousness and any underlying problems  Other measurements:  Physiological indicators:  Heart rate - Measures using standard heart rate monitor - When awake, heart rate may differ considerably depending on the activity the individual is engaged in - ASC → varies; (increases with stimulant drugs such as caffeine and decreases with meditation) - NREM → usually slow and regular, often slower than resting heart rate - REM → varies; may rise to the level of heart rate seen when carrying out strenuous exercise  Body temperature - Varies in a regular way over a 24 hour period, following a circadian rhythm - Linked to alertness, and fluctuation (irregular rises and falls) in temperature can lead to - drowsiness - ASC → May drop (alcohol-induced state; hypothermia) or rise (ecstasy; hyperthermia or dehydration) - NREM → body temperature reaches its lowest levels - REM → unregulated; changes depending on the temperature in the surrounding environment

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 GSR (Galvanic skin response) - Physiological response that indicates the electrical conductivity of the skin - Conductivity of the skin (rate at which the skin conducts electricity) increases as it becomes more moist as a result of perspiration - ASC → GSR may increase (after taking stimulants) or decrease (through meditation) - NWC → Increase due to events that cause us to perspire (such as strong emotional reactions, physical exercise or being very aroused) or decrease when relaxed and not in a hot environment  Other methods to study states of consciousness:  Speed and accuracy on cognitive tasks (neurocognitive assessments) - EG. Researcher may measure the speed and accuracy of participants when perceiving/responding to road stimuli in a driving simulator after different periods of sleep deprivation - May be used to assess how amounts of stimulant or depressant affect performance on a cognitive task - Objective performance measures = scores are not subject to personal opinion or interpretation by the researcher  Sleep laboratory - Place used for scientific research on sleep, usually resembling a bedroom - Participants are usually ‘wired up’ to record the physiological measurements and the researcher observes the participant from a different room - Researcher has the ability to control environmental aspects such as room temperature and maintain this for all participants  Video monitoring - Used to sleep in laboratories and in the person’s own home to observe sleep - Uses infrared cameras (or cameras in a room lit with infrared light) that operate silently to allow footage to be seen and taped in the dark without disturbing the sleeping participant  Responses that may be conducted: ● Changes in posture/body position ● Sleep related breathing problems ● Behaviours associated with sleep waking ● Amount of ‘tossing and turning’  Benefits -

The individual should be

Limitations -

Results may be

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undisturbed They can be monitored at home or in a lab Good observations of actual behaviour Results from video monitoring  can easily be used in conjunction  with other results, such as physiological measurement Due to the nature of video monitoring, results can be kept for use at a later date

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limited/inconclusive Results may be subjective and open to different interpretations Reviewing videos may be time consuming

 Self reports - Statements and answers to questions made by the participants concerning their thoughts and feelings - Subjective measure - The researcher can gather data about the perceived experienced while the person is in that state by asking the individual to describe it for them - EG. Sleep diaries - Allows individuals to record their sleep wake pattern - Helps the individual to monitor when they go to bed and wake up in the morning, how long it takes to fall asleep, waking patterns during the night, and the quality of their sleep (how restful their sleep is)  Records can be kept of: ● Time when trying to fall asleep ● Number/length of awakenings during sleep ● Time of awakening in morning ● How well rested the individual feels upon awakening  Benefits -

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Thoughts and feelings of the individual are taken into account Gives the perspective of what the individual experiences Results from video monitoring can be easily be used in conjunction with other results Time effective

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Limitations -

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Results are highly subjective - difficult to compare across people Results depend on the reliability of the individual - requires conscious awareness and an ability to describe their experiences in words Hard to remember all the details/accuracy in the morning Participant may be dishonest

 Research

Description

Advantages

Disadvantages

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Physiological measurements 

Recording of physiological (physical body) events 

Most objective and reliable means of indicating different states of consciousness 

Cannot describe the person’s private and personal conscious experience  Changes in physiological events may be due to other reasons, not a change in state of consciousness

Sleep laboratory 

A place used for scientific research on sleep that usually resembles a bedroom 

Research is conducted in a controlled environment  A number of research methods can be employed at once  The equipment is difficult to transport outside the laboratory thus making it convenient  Researchers can work in their workplace with all their resources and not intrude into participants’ homes

An artificial environment that may disrupt normal sleep patterns  Sleeping participants may be frequently woken up and this may affect normal sleep patterns  Being monitored and wired up can be a frightening or invasive experience, and thus participants may find it hard to fall asleep or even agree to participate in the study

Video monitoring 

Using infrared cameras (or cameras in a room lit with infrared light) that operate silently to allow footage to be seen and taped in the dark without disturbing the sleeping participant 

Insight into observable behaviour during sleep  Can be undertaken in sleep laboratory or in normal bed (natural setting)  Researchers can continuously monitor the behaviour, either at the time of collection or at a later stage or both  Data can be recorded alongside the physiological measurements at the time

Data can be open to interpretation (thus open to bias) so requires clear definitions for a specific behaviour  May miss important events if only considering still photographs every few seconds/minutes  Participant’s behaviour may be blocked from the view of the camera 

Statements and answers to

Gives an important insight A subjective measure that into actual thoughts and is open to interpretation,

Self - reports

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questions made by the participants concerning their thoughts and feelings

feelings of participants 

thus results may be inaccurate 

  Changes in a person’s psychological state due to levels of awareness, controlled and automatic processes, content limitations, perceptual and cognitive distortions, emotional awareness, self-control and time orientation 4.1.3   Psychological indicators:  Perceptual and cognitive distortions - The degree of awareness and efficiency of your perceptions and cognitions  NWC -

Perceptions realistic/normal Effective control of memory processes (storage/retrieval) Thought processes are organised/logical/cohesive

ASC -

Perception may be altered Memory processes may be disrupted or distorted: storage and recall may be more fragmented or less accurate

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 Emotional awareness - The experience of emotions/feelings  NWC -

Emotions normal and appropriate Greater awareness and control of emotions

ASC -

Emotions may be heightened/reduced/less appropriate

  Self control - The ability to maintain self-control; usually in terms of monitoring behaviour  NWC 

High degree of control over our responses, actions and movements Accurate sense of self and identity

ASC -

Less control over actions and movements Less able to control responses Distorted sense of self 

 Time orientation - Your ability to correctly perceive the speed at which time passes 

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NWC -

Clear sense of time: We can perceive a steady passage past to present

ASC -

Sense of time may be distorted Time may seem to pass faster or slower than normal

   Level of awareness - Awareness of internal and external events  NWC -

Awake generally aware of internal and external events Greater control over attention levels 

ASC -

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May be increased or decreased compared to NWC Most often lower Selective attention is harder to maintain Divided attention is harder to achieve

 Content limitations - The amount of control you have to limit what you attend to  NWC -

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More constrained a controlled Can selectively process different parts of what is in your consciousness More control over what we attend to or not and how we direct our thoughts

ASC -

Content is usually less constrained and controlled than in NWC Reduced ability to process information Thoughts are incoherent/disorganised  

            Normal waking vs Altered state: 

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

Normal Waking Consciousness

Altered state Consciousness

Level of awareness (awareness of internal and external events)

Many levels of awareness can be experienced; however we are generally alert to some

Less aware of sensations and external environment (e.g. fever, game of golf).

Content limitations (the amount of control we have to limit what we attend to)

Content can be limited through our ability to be selective with our attention (controlled).

Usually less constrained, controlled and logical. Ability to be selective or divide out attention may be impaired.

Controlled & automatic processes (ability to effectively perform two or more tasks at once depending on the level of complexity)

Can complete both controlled and automatic processes. >Controlled: often serial >Automatic: often parallel (divided attention). 

Carrying out controlled processes is difficult. Ability to perform automatic processes can be decreased.

Time orientation (ability to We have a clear sense of correctly perceive the speed time in which time is at which time passes) perceived as objectively correct.

Sense of time is distorted; time may appear faster or slower than in reality.

Perceptual & cognitive distortions (the degree of awareness and efficiency of our perception and cognitions)

Perception is realistic and clear: - Able to make sense of sensory input - Have real awareness of internal/external events - Pain is perceived realistically Thoughts are organised and logical: - Capable of mental processes

Distortions may occur: - Ability to interpret sensory input is impaired (e.g. less pain, colours more vivid) - Cognitive functioning is impaired (thoughts, problem-solving, memory) - May lose touch with reality

Emotional awareness (the experience of emotions)

Generally aware of and are able to control our feelings (e.g. hiding our true feelings), and show a normal range of appropriate emotions.

Usually less control of emotions. They can become more intense (dreams), can be dulled (state of shock), and might also be inappropriate.

Self-control (the ability to

Able to maintain self-control:

Ability to maintain

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monitor one’s behaviour)

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Able to direct our thinking Can monitor what we say and do

self-control is usually reduced, though sometimes increases (decrease in inhibitions causing us to do

  Changes in levels of alertness as indicated by brain waves patterns (beta, alpha, theta, delta) due to drug induced altered states of consciousness (stimulants and depressants) 3.1.4   Brain waves  Brain wave pattern

Frequency

Beta

Amplitude

fast/high (but faster than small/low alpha)<...