[Intro. to Psy Course Note] Ch 5

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States of Consciousness

What is consciousness ?

  • Waking consciousness: normal, clear alert awareness
  • Altered state of consciousness (ASC) 意識狀態改變: changes that occus in quality and pattern of mental activity; different from waking consciousness
  • Disorder of consciousness
    • Coma
    • Persistent vegetative state 持續性植物狀態 (植物人)

What is hypnosis ?

  • State theories: ASC
  • Nonstate theories: hypnosis is not a distinct state; it is a blend of conformity, relaxation, imagination, obedience, role-playing
  • Effect of hypnosis
    • Improving physical ability in some sports
    • Increasing memory
    • Producing brief amnesia 失憶
    • Pain relief
    • Producing sensory changes
  • Hypnosis cannot…
    • Produce acts of superhuman strength
    • Produce true age regression 退化
    • Force you to do things against your will

Do meditation and mindfulness have any benefits ?

  • Meditation
  • Sensory deprivation an relaxation: tranquility in a tank
    • Intense or prolonged sensory deprivation is stressful and disorienting
    • Brief periods of sensory restriction can produce a strong relaxation response. deep relaxation makes people more open to suggestion
    • Mild sensory deprivation may interrupt habitual behavior patterns
      • A way to stimulate creative thinking and enhance sports and music performance
  • Forms of meditation
    • Concentrative meditation 專注式冥想
    • Mindfulness meditation 正念靜觀: widening attention to become nonjudgmentally aware of everything

What are the basic rhythms of sleep ?

  • Need for sleep
    • Hypersomnia 嗜睡症: excessive daytime sleepiness, arises after even a few hours of sleep loss
  • Sleep patterns: daily rhythms of sleep and waking
    • Older people sleep less than younger people
  • EEG and brain waves
    • Electroencephalograph 腦波儀
    • β waves: small, fast, alertness, wakefulness
    • α waves: larger, slower, relaxation, falling asleep
    • δ(delta) waves: largest, slowest, deep sleep
  • Stages of sleep
    • Stage 1 (light sleep)
      • Small, irregular waves (people may or may not say they were asleep)
      • Hypnic jerk 入睡抽動
    • Stage 2 (deeper sleep)
      • Sleep spindles: short bursts of distinctive brain-wave activity that appear at threshold of sleep
    • Stage 3 (even deeper sleep)
      • Delta waves appear
    • Stage 4 (deepest level of normal sleep)
      • Almost pure delta waves
    • REM sleep
      • Stage of sleep marked by rapid eye movements, high-frequency brain waves, and dreaming
  • REM & Non-REM
    • REM
      • 20 ~ 25% of sleep time, dream
      • Brain wave pattern similar to stage 1 and 2 and awake (paradoxical sleep 矛盾睡眠)
    • Non-REM
      • Less activity, 75 ~ 80% of sleep time
    • 100-minutes cycle (90min NREM + 10min REM), 4 ~ 6 times
    • With each cycle, time of deep sleep (stage 3 & 4) decreases and REM sleep increases

Why do we sleep ?

  • REM rebound: the occurrence of extra REM sleep following REM sleep deprivation
  • When we get a good night of sleep, the information that we learned in the hours before sleep gets “solidified” in our memories. This process is called consolidation 固化
  • Consolidation may happen more during our early NREM sleep stages than in later REM stages

Do dreams have meaning ?

  • Why do we dream ?
    • Sigmund Freud
      • Dreams gave us insight into a person’s unconscious
      • The content of dreams represents a wish fulfillment purpose
      • 夢到的東西 -> manifest content 表明內容
      • 隱藏的涵義 -> latent content 潛伏內容
    • Activation-synthesis hypothesis 激發 - 整合假說
      • Dreams are meaningless
      • 腦袋裡面電流活動有的沒的整合起來變成夢境
    • Neurocognitive theory of dreaming
      • Suggests that when we dream we are continuing the thoughts and emotions of our waking lives

What are some sleep-wake disorders ?

  • Insomnia 失眠
    • Remedies for insomnia
      • Stimulus control: linking a particular response with specific stimuli-getting up and going to sleep at the same time everyday; avoid doing anything by sleeping in the bed
      • Sleep restriction: restricting sleep to normal bedtime hours
      • Paradoxical intention 矛盾意向法: trying to keep the eyes open and stay awake as long as possible - removing the pressure of trying to go to sleep
      • Relaxation
      • Exercise
      • Food intake: starchy food (tryptophan 色氨基酸 ↑, serotonin 血清素 in the brain ↑)
      • Stimulant avoidance: avoid coffee, cigarettes (alcohol is not stimulant, yet impairs sleep quality)
  • Disorders of arousal
    • Sleepwalk 夢遊
      • Somnambulists are typically not acting out their dreams
      • NREM stages 3 and 4
      • Their eyes are usually open
      • Not dangerous to wake them up
      • You can guide the person back to bed. It’s not necessary to wake them up
    • Sleeptalking 夢囈 / 夢語
      • People pathological talk in their sleep (no, you can’t get their deepest secrets by listening to them)
    • Sleepsex
      • People attempt to have sex while they are fast asleep
  • Additional disorders
    • Nightmare disorder
      • Marked by repeated and disruptive frightening dreams
    • Sleep apnea 睡眠呼吸中止症
      • Disturbance of breathing during sleep that may require a machine to treat
    • Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS) 嬰兒猝死
      • A child dies in their sleep because they fail to reposition themselves and suffocate
    • Narcolepsy 猝睡症
      • When a person experiences episodes of falling asleep directly from a wakeful state