Module 26: Consciousness and Sleep

1. Consciousness
 Dualism
o Created by Renee Descartes
o Idea that the mind and body are separate
 Monism
o Created by Thomas Hobbes
o Idea that the mind is part of the body
o They are connected
 Who do modern Scientists agree with
o They endorse monism
o They believe that the consciousness arises from brain activity
 Defining Consciousness
o We don’t use the word in everyday conversation
o Can be defined as awareness
 Related to attention, working memory, and explicit / implicit
memory
 Linked with the prefrontal cortex
2. Hypnosis
 Hypnosis is real, not magical like in magic tricks
 Hypnosis cannot be used to:
o Relive past memories, recover repressed memories, peer into the
unconscious
 Hypnosis can be used to:
o Control pain, manage stress, change behavior
 What Is Hypnosis?
o The process where one person assists another person to focus their
attention
o The hypnotist gives suggestions that the subject is likely to follow
 The Ordinariness of Hypnosis
o When you’re under hypnosis, you have selective attention
 Selective attention: Choosing what you focus your attention on
o You also become suggestible
 Or are more likely to comply with requests of other people
3. Sleep and Dreaming
 Why do we need sleep?
o Sleep is considered an evolutionary adaptation
 Meaning we’ve adapted to need it
 Ex: An animal goes to sleep at night because that’s when
they’re most vulnerable because of the dark
o Sleep helps us rest, rebuild, and restore
 Helps maintain our hormone levels, restores energy, etc.
o Sleep helps with cognitive functions
 Ex: Sleep helps solidify and organize our memories for recall
and learning later on
 Circadian Rhythms
o Patterns of speeding up / slowing down body systems throughout the
day
 We have these patterns that are set to help us be sleepy at night
and speed up when we wake up
o Suprachiasmatic Nucleus
 Part of brain that acts like a biological clock
 Sets our circadian rhythms
 This brain part reacts to light
 Less light present, melatonin is created and vise versa
 Sleep stages
o Sleep stages are named after different brain waves
o Stage 1
 Slipping in and out, dreamlike images
o Stage 2
 Stimuli from outside world unlikely to reach consciousness
o Stage 3 / 4
 Stimuli from outside world unlikely to reach consciousness;
sleepwalking occurs in this stage; hard to wake up; boosts
immune system
o REM
 Rapid eye movements; muscle paralysis; dreaming occurs
 Freud’s Dream Theory
o Hidden desires, disguised, released
o Rejected by current science of dreaming
 Evidence Against Freud’s Theory
o Modern content analysis
 Many dreams are about our waking lives and mundane
activities / events
  Content is not disguised
 Emotions are appropriate to content
 Availability Heuristic
o We overestimate frequency of memorable dreams
o Ex: If we dream about a monster coming for us a lot, we may believe
that the majority of our dreams are unusual; just means we remember
the most explicit dreams
4. Sleep Deprivation
 When you don’t get enough sleep
o Most people need about 8 hours of sleep on average
o 35% of people get less than 7 hours
 Consequences of sleep deprivation
o There are over 30!
o Serious consequences
 Medical errors
 Affecting your performance in professional professions
 Car accidents
 Several cases of car accidents due to sleep deprivation
 Reduced leptin
 Sleep deprivation causes less production of leptin
hormone
 Causes eating disorders
 How much sleep do you need?
o Determine your own needs; everyone has their own
o How to determine this time
 Increase sleep by 15-30 minutes each week
 Adjust bedtime, not rising time
 Keep increasing until you do not need alarm clock
 What is sleep hygiene?
o Habits that promote good sleep