Consciousness and Its Altered

States
Psychology 1
Dr. Jay Garcia
Professor
 Consciousness
Definition of James Angell All
consciousness everywhere, normal or
abnormal, human or animal.
Definition William James Consciousness
is a stream, or everchanging flow of
awareness.
 Levels of Consciousness
Conscious is a term used to describe
your active awareness.
Preconscious stores memories that
you do not have a use for at present
moment, but you can retrieve in the
future if needed.
 Levels of Consciousness
Subconscious handles the information &
mental processes needed to perform routine
activities that you do not require conscious
thought.
Unconscious is what stores those memories
we are unaware of.
 Altered State of Consciousness
(ASC)
Is a radical deviation from overall pattern of
functioning of the mind during the ordinary
waking state of consciousness such the
new, overall pattern is superimposed on
ones experience.
 Example of ASC:
Sleep
Dream
Hypnosis
Meditation
Psychoactive drugs
 SLEEP

The phenomenon of sleep has always aroused curiosity.

No one fully understand why we sleep.
Two basic theories:
Sleep has a restorative function.
Sleep has an adaptive function.
 Stages of Sleep
Sleep follows a regular cycle each night.
The encephalogram (EMG) is the record of
the brain activity recorded by a machine
called electroencephalograph (EEG). The
EEG pattern changes in a predictable way
several times during a single period of
sleep.
 Sleep Stage Common
Characteristics
1. (SWS or NREM)
Transition state between sleep & wakefulness.
Eyes begin to roll slightly
Consists mostly of theta waves (high
amplitude, low frequency slow)
Brief periods of alpha waves, similar to those
present while awake.
 Sleep Stage Common
Characteristics
Lasts only for a few minutes before moving on
the next stage.
2. (SWS of NREM)
Peaks of brain waves become higher & higher
(sleep spindles)
K-complexes (Peaks suddenly drastically
descend & then pick back up) follow spindles.
 Sleep Stage Common
Characteristics
Again, only lasts for a few minutes.
3. (SWS or NREM)
Also called delta sleep or deep sleep.
Very slow brain waves, called delta waves
(lower frequency than theta waves)
20-50% of the brain waves are delta waves,
the rest are theta waves.
 Sleep Stage Common
Characteristics
4. (SWS or NREM)
Again, also called delta sleep or deep sleep.
More than 50% of brain waves are delta
waves, the rest are theta waves.
Last (& deepest) of the sleep stages before
REM sleep, stages reverse & then REM
sleep begins.
 Sleep Stage Common
Characteristics
5. (REM)
Beta waves have a high frequency &
occur when the brain is quite active,
both in REM sleep & while awake.
Frequent bursts of rapid eye
movement, along with occasional
muscular twitches
 Sleep Stage Common
Characteristics
Heart may beat faster & breathing
may become shallow & rapid.
Most vivid dreaming occurs during
this stage.
 Two Basic forms of Sleep.
Slow Wave Sleep (SWS)
Rapid Eye Movement (REM) Sleep
SWS REM
Infants 50% 50%
Adults 80% 20%
Old Age 85% 15%
 SLEEP PROBLEMS &
DISTURBANCES
Insomnia- Condition in which a
person has difficulty getting sufficient
sleep.
Hypersomnia is a excessive
sleepiness.
Narcolepsy-is a disabling disorder
of sleep regulation that affects the
control of sleep & wakefulness
 SLEEP PROBLEMS &
DISTURBANCES
Apnea is a disorder of breathing
during sleep. Typically it is
accompanied by loud snoring.
Somnambulism Sleepwalking
series of complex behavior that are
initiated during slow wave sleep &
result in walking during sleep.
 DREAMS
Many aspects of dreaming state have
continued to baffle man from time
immemorial. Even if no one can fully
fathom the mystery of this ASC, the
many researchers that been noted
the some dreams are carry over
everyday experiences and thus may
not be worth interpreting.
 DREAMS
Other dreams convey an important
message, which may be great help in
dealing with some personal
problems, issues, concerns.
Most dreaming occurs during REM
Sleep.
 DREAMS
Many scientists said that the dream
itself is a by-product of the brains
electrical discharges, & depending on
where they end up, differing images
within a dream will occur.
 HYPNOSIS
The discovery of hypnosis dates back
to the 1790s in Europe when Anton
Mesmer, a Viennese physician, cured
his patients by putting them into
trance-like states. Mesmer attributed
the cures that his patients reported
to animal Magnetism.
 HYPNOSIS
However, the committees that were
formed to investigate his technique,
which came to be known as
mesmerian, found that cures were
due to suggestion rather than to
magnesium.
 HYPNOSIS
The predominant school of thought
on hypnosis is that it is a way to
access a persons subconscious mind
directly.
Subconscious Mind responsible for
all of the stuff you do automatically.
It is a trance state characterized by
extreme suggestibility, relaxation &
heightened imagination.
 Hypnotic Techniques
Fixed-gaze induction or eye fixation
This is the method you often see in
movies, when hypnotist waves a
pocket watch in front of the subjects.
Rapid The idea of this method is to
overload the mind with sudden, firm
commands.
 Hypnotic Techniques
Progressive relaxation & imagery
this is the hypnosis
 Meditation
Is the focused relaxation of the
conscious state. Yoga, transcendental
meditation are the examples of this.
Two types of meditation:
Concentrative meditation
Mindfulness meditation
 PSYCHOACTIVE DRUGS
Much work on special states of
consciousness concentrates on the
effects of chemicals in altering
awareness.
There are at least 3 basic types of
Psychoactive Drugs.
Depressants, Stimulants, and
Hallucinogens.
 PSYCHOACTIVE DRUGS
Depressant slow down neural/bodily
activity. This includes alcohol (Taken
in large amounts), barbiturates &
opiates (including morphine & heroin).
Hallucinogens (also called
Psychodelics) induce distorted
perceptual or sensory impressions.
This includes marijuana & LSD
(Lysergic Acid Diethalamide).
 PSYCHOACTIVE DRUGS
Stimulants include cocaine &
amphetamines, as well as the more
widely used caffeine and nicotine.
Effects include feelings of elation &
increase energy, but such feelings
may be accompanied by increased
anxiety & bodily araousal.
 PSYCHOACTIVE DRUGS
Such drugs produce distorted
percepts (e.g. seeing a skeleton
when looking in the mirror,
inappropriate feelings of power
thinking one can fly.