Deck 5: Section 1: Consciousness

Question 1

Describe some of the features of dreams. What is happening in the brain when you dream? Which areas are activated? Which are not?

Answer 1

The answer should provide the following information: (1) Many dreams are intensely emotional, suggesting that the amygdala is active during REM sleep; (2) Dreams are visually expressive, but the other senses are virtually absent. In a way, dreaming is very similar to visual imagination. The actual areas associated with sensory perception (including visual perception) are not activated during dreaming. Visual association areas associated with visual imagery, however, are activated during REM sleep; (3) The prefrontal cortex shows less arousal during REM sleep. This area of the brain is associated with planning; dreams often seem unplanned and rambling; (4) During REM sleep, the motor cortex is activated, but spinal neurons running through the brain stem inhibit the expression of this motor activation; therefore, the dreamer remains still. This is fortuitous because acting out our dreams would be dangerous. This also shows that sleepwalkers are not dreaming.

Question 2

Illustrate the problem of other minds by discussing the difficulties associated with distinguishing a fully conscious person from a person who says and does all of the same things but is not conscious.

Answer 2

The answer should indicate that the problem of other minds refers to the fundamental difficulty we have in perceiving the consciousness of others. To illustrate this problem, imagine a person that behaves just like you. She can talk about experiences, react to stimuli, and even wince in pain when stung by a bee. But the person is completely unconscious; she has no inner experience. This begs the question: How do you know that your roommate (or, for that matter, everyone else) is conscious? Because you have access to your own consciousness, you can make definitive statements about it. But because we do not have access to the consciousness of others, it is impossible to ever really know if they have consciousness or not. People make the assumption that other people experience consciousness in a similar way to themselves, and this assumption has served us well, but we never will know for sure.

Question 3

Because you have not been doing well on your psychology exams lately, you decide to look at your approach to studying. Discuss the four basic properties of consciousness (intentionality, unity, selectivity, and transience), relating them to your study habits.

Answer 3

The answer should provide the following information: (1) Intentionality: Consciousness is always directed at an object. Perhaps you need to direct your consciousness toward psychology on a more frequent basis. The capacity of conscious attention also is limited. This limitation may affect how long you can focus on a reading assignment without being distracted; (2) Unity: Research suggests that if you try to focus on more than one thing at a time, your performance decreases markedly. Therefore, you should stop watching your favorite television show while studying for an exam; (3) Selectivity: While studying, your mind works to filter out sensory information associated with the temperature of the room, the hardness of your seat, and your roommate snoring. It also helps you tune in to information related to its intention (hopefully psychology). While this is enormously helpful for your study, it does have its limitations. If you hear your name being discussed down the hall, for example, you may begin to selectively attend to that conversation and filter out visual information you are sensing from your textbook. The best advice is to study in a place where these types of distractions are kept to a minimum; (4) Transience: Conscious attention is constantly changing its focus. This may occur partly because of the limited capacity of working memory. Given that your mind will begin to wander after extended focus on the study material (also see Point 1), perhaps the best advice is to take small frequent breaks from your studies.

Question 4

Describe how hypnosis affects human consciousness, discuss individual differences in the susceptibility to hypnosis, and contrast several unproven or disproven effects of hypnosis with proven effects.

Question 5

Describe how Libet's experiments on the conscious sheds light on the mind-body problem.

Question 6

Distinguish between the stages of sleep with special attention to changes in brain waves during a night's sleep.

Question 7

Discuss why sleeping pills are not recommended for the long-term treatment of insomnia.

Question 8

For each of the major drug classes (depressants, stimulants, narcotics, hallucinogens, and marijuana), discuss the potential for overdose, physical dependence, and psychological dependence.

Question 9

Contrast Freud's theories of dreams with the activation-synthesis model as it pertains to the meaning of dreams.

Question 10

A kicker on a football team misses an important field goal. The coach advises him to actively try and banish the miss from memory. Explain why this may be bad advice.

Question 11

You have been told that as a child you would awaken suddenly not long after going to sleep, quite frightened and emotionally aroused. In the morning, you would have no memory of the episode. What was likely happening?

Question 12

Compare and contrast how the five different drug categories alter consciousness. What are the similarities? What are the differences?

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