Priya Srivastava
AP Psychology
Nature of Consciousness
Variations in Levels of Awareness Freud’s Arguments Unconscious Needs, Wishes, and Conflicts influence Behavior and Feelings.
Conscious and Unconscious are Different Levels of Awareness. When people are asleep or under anesthesia, they remain aware of external events to some degree.
Evolutionary Roots of Consciousness Consciousness evolved because it helped ancient humans survive and reproduce.
Consciousness allows thinking through courses of action and their consequences. Then to choose the best course without having to try all the bad ones. Forethought and Planning are Valuable Conscious adaptations.
Consciousness & Brain Activity Electroencephalograph (EEG) is a device that monitors the
…show more content…
Brain Activity dominated by Beta Waves.
Beta Waves are the awake processing thought and Problem solving Brain waves.
Dreaming Occurs in REM sleep.
REM occurs about 4 Times a Night..
Age Trends in Sleep
Babies spend 50% of sleeping time in REM. Adults spend 20% of sleeping time in REM.
Elderly spend more time in Stage 1 Sleep.
Culture and Sleep
Most Cultures sleep about the same amount of time.
Siesta Cultures - in Tropical cultures take a mid-day nap around 2:00 PM to avoid the hottest time of day.
Neural Bases of Sleep
The Ascending Reticular Activating System (ARAS) consists of the afferent fibers running through the in Reticular formation that influences psychological arousal.
Many different Processes affect Sleep.
Evolutionary Bases of Sleep
Sleep helps animals restore energy and other bodily resources depleted by walking activity.
Doing Without: Sleep Deprivation
Impairs reaction time, attention, coordination, decision making, etc.
REM Deprivation – In sleep you rebound from being deprived of REM sleep by REM sleeping much more often to balance out.
REM sleep & Learning/Memory
Complete Deprivation: Most experience great difficulty getting beyond a third or fourth sleepless
A question that continues to puzzle scholars (and Honors students, alike) is that of what defines human consciousness. It would be simple to say that it is defined by one’s awareness of itself and of its surroundings. What makes the question so difficult to answer, though, is that consciousness is much more than an acute awareness; it is the process of becoming aware, finding the purpose of our consciousness, and building morals and intelligence from that awareness that entangles those who search for answers in a web of utter confusion.
Chapter 4 discusses the several states of consciousness: the nature of consciousness, sleep and dreams, psychoactive drugs, hypnosis, and meditation. Consciousness is a crucial part of human experience, it represents that private inner mind where we think, feel, plan, wish, pray, omagine, and quietly relive experiences. William James described the mind as a stream of consciousness, a continuous flow of changing sensations, images thoughts, and feelings. Consciousness has two major parts: awareness and arousal. Awareness includes the awareness of the self and thoughts about one's experiences. Arousal is the physiological state of being engaged with the environment. Theory of mind refers to individuals understanding that they and others think,
The relation of consciousness to the material world is puzzle, which has its origin in dualism, a philosophy of mind which posits their fundamental separation. Dualism, in turn, has its roots in folk wisdom. The belief that humans are more than bodies and that there is something in human nature that survives bodily death has its origins in prehistory; it becomes explicit in the mythology of Ancient Egypt and Assyria and was formulated into a philosophical position in the Platonic thought of Ancient Greece. But the contemporary view that the interaction of consciousness with matter poses a problem which may be beyond scientific understanding can be traced to a clearer formulation of dualism proposed by Descartes.
In order to do so, I shall be looking at different sources and reviewing various definitions and interpretations of consciousness and distinguishing the methods approached to the study of the topic in the way it is measured.
Others consider Consciousness a simply state of being, of existence, triggered by some mechanical patterns which developed through Evolution, while some people think Consciousness is the subjective experience of one individual, a more philosophic approach where one is aware of himself, his existence, his identity, his moralities and the role he has in this world.
Consciousness is a very common and much used word used to describe the condition of being awake and aware. In other words, being conscious means responding to the environment, in contrast to being asleep or in coma. But in philosophical terms, consciousness is defined as the state in which humans are able to clearly distinguish between themselves and all other
I will commence by defining what makes a mental state conscious. This will be done aiming to distinguish what type of state we are addressing when we speak of a mental phenomenon and how is it, that can have a plausible explanation. By taking this first approach, we are able to build a base for our main argument to be clear enough and so that we can remain committed to.
There is a great question on whether or not our conscious thoughts are something greater than a physical state: this question has two responses which state that yes, consciousness state and brain state are two separate states (dualism) and no, brain state and conscious state is one in the same (physicalism). I will be arguing that brain state and conscious state are the same by presenting scientific evidence and theories that support a physicalist view. This evidence will clearly state why the physical stance is supported while the dualist stance is not.
(they are more action-packed) and motor behavior (its is more action packed) during REM sleep that correlate with the
From the time of hunters and gatherers, the some of the thing that has accompanied the human race is their brains. Human's intelligence and consciousness has evolved just as humans have evolved from early hominids to modern humans. Consciousness refers to an individual's awareness of their surroundings and everything that is going on around them. During the course of a lifetime, there are many instances where a shift in the quality and pattern of an individual's mental activity occurs. Altered states of consciousness includes the variable aspects of sleep, dreams, drug induced consciousness, and hypnosis.
Renner, T., Feldman, R., Majors, M., Morrissey, J., & Mae, L. (2011). States of Consciousness. Psychsmart (pp. 99-107). New York: McGraw-Hill.
One much discussed issue in contemporary philosophy is the relation between consciousness and intentionality. Philosophers debate whether consciousness and intentionality are somehow "connected" (see Searle, chap. 7); whether the one or the other is the "theoretically fundamental" one (see Dennett); and whether we have reason to be more optimistic about an "objective" or "scientific," or "third-person" "account" of intentionality ...
"Artificial Intelligence and Consciousness." Encyclopedia of Consciousness. Oxford: Elsevier Science & Technology, 2009. Credo Reference. Web. 26 April 2011.
“Consciousness is defined as everything of which we are aware at any given time - our thoughts, feelings, sensations, and perceptions of the external environment. Physiological researchers have returned to the study of consciousness, in examining physiological rhythms, sleep, and altered states of consciousness (changes in awareness produced by sleep, meditation, hypnosis, and drugs)” (Wood, 2011, 169). There are five levels of consciousness; Conscious (sensing, perceiving, and choosing), Preconscious (memories that we can access), Unconscious ( memories that we can not access), Non-conscious ( bodily functions without sensation), and Subconscious ( “inner child,” self image formed in early childhood).
The mind is not all consciousness; unconscious motives lie behind some of our puzzling behavior (King).