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Myers 9 Chapter 3
Bell West / Consciousness and the Two-Track Mind
| Question | Answer |
|---|---|
| consciousness | our awareness of ourselves and our environment. |
| cognitive neuroscience | the interdisciplinary study of the brain activity linked with cognition (ijncluding perception, thinking, memory, and language). |
| dual processing | the principle that information is often simultaneously processed on seperate conscious and unconscious tracks. |
| selective attention | the focusing of conscious awareness on a particular stimulus. |
| inattentional blindness | failing to see visible objects when our attention is directed elsewhere. |
| change blindness | failing to notice changes in the environment. |
| circadian rhythm | the biological clock; regular bodily rhythms (for example, of temperature and wakefulness) that occur on a 24-hour cycle. |
| REM sleep | rapid eye movement sleep, a recurring sleep stage during which vivid dreams commonly occur. Also known as paradoxial sleep, because the muscles are relaxed (except for minor twitches) but other body systems are active. |
| alpha waves | the relatively slow brain waves of a relaxed, awake state. |
| sleep | periodic, natural, reversible loss of consciousness-as distinct from unconsciousness resulting from a coma, general anesthesia, or hibernation. |
| hallucinations | false sensory experiences, such as seeing something in the absence of an external visual stimulus. |
| delta waves | the large, slow brain waves associated with deep sleep |
| insomnia | recurring problems in falling or staying asleep. |
| narcolepsy | a sleep disorder characterized by uncontrollable sleep attacks. The sufferer may lapse directly into REM sleep, often at inopportune times. |
| sleep apnea | a sleep disorder characterized by temporary cessations of breathing during sleep and repeated momentary awakenings. |
| night terrors | a sleep disorder characterized by high arousal and an appearance of being terrified; unlike nightmares, night terrors occur during Stage 4 sleep, within two or three hours of falling asleep, and are seldom remembered. |
| dream | a sequence of images, emotions, and thoughts passing through a sleeping person's mind. Dreams are notable for their hallucinatory imagery, discontinuities, and incongruities, and for the dreamer's delusional acceptance of the content and later difficultie |
| manifest content | according to Freud, the remembered story line of a dream ( as distinct from its latent, or hidden, content). |
| REM rebound | the tendency for REM sleep to increase following REM sleep deprivation (created by repeated awakening during REM sleep). |
| hypnosis | a social interaction in which one person (the Hypnotist) suggests to another (the subject) that certain perceptions, feelings, thoughts, or behaviors will spontaneously occur. |
| posthypnotic suggestion | a suggestion, made during a hypnosis session, to be carried out after the subject is no longer hypnotized; used by some clinicians to help control undesired symptoms and behaviors. |
| dissociation | a split in consciousness, which allows some thoughts and behaviors to occur simultaneously with others. |
| psychoactive drug | a chemical substance that alters perceptions and moods. |
| tolerance | the diminishing effect with regular use of the same dose of a drug, requiring the user to take larger doses before experiencing the drug's effect. |
| withdrawal | the discomfortand distress that follow discontinuing the use of an addictive drug. |
| physical dependence | a physiological need for a drug, marked by unpleasant withdrawl symptoms when the drug is discontinued. |
| psychological dependence | a psychological need to use a drug, such as to relieve negative emotions. |
| addiction | complusive drug craving and use, despite adverse consequences. |
| depressants | drugs (such as alcohol, barniturates and opiates) that reduce neural activity and slow body functions. |
| barbiturates | drugs that depress the activity of the central nervous system, reducing anxiety but impairing memory and judgment. |
| opiates | opium and its derivatives, such as morphine and heroin; they depress neural activity, temporarily lessening pain and anxiety. |
| stimulants | drugs (such as caffeine, nicotine, and the more powerful amphetamines, cocaine, and Ecstasy) that excite neural activity and speed up body functions. |
| amphetamines | drugs that stimulate neural activity, causing speeded-up body functions and associated energy and mood changes. |
| metamphetamine | a powerfully addictive drug that stimulates the central nervous system, with speeded-up body functions and associated energy and mood changes; over time, appears to reduce baseline dopamine levels. |
| Ecstasy | a synthetic stimulant and mild hallucinogen. Produces euphoria and social intimacy, but with short-term health risks and longer-term harm to serotonin-producing neurons and to mood and cognition. |
| hallucinogens | psychedelic ("mild-manifesting") drugs, such as LSD, that distort perceptions and evoke sensory images in the absence of sensory input. |
| LSD | a powerful hallucinogenic drug; also known as acid (lysergic acid diethylamide). |
| THC | the major active ingredient in marijuana; triggers a variety of effects, including mild hallucinations. |
| near-death experience | an altered state of consciousness reported after a close brush with death (such as through cardiac arrest); often similar to drug-induced hallucinations. |
| latent content | according to Freud, the underlying meaning of a dream (as distinct from its manifest content). |