This is a set of comprehensive notes that cover the entire Unit Four course in detail and were written by a student who maintained a 97% average in her SACs and got a raw 44 study score.
PSYCHOLOGY UNIT FOUR
NATURE OF CONSCIOUSNESS
KDP 1: consciousness as a psychological construct that varies along a continuum, broadly categorised into
normal waking consciousness and altered states of consciousness (naturally occurring and induced)
CONSCIOUSNESS AS A PSYCHOLOGICAL CONSTRUCT
What is a psychological construct?
A concept that is ‘constructed’ to describe specific ‘psychological’ activity, or a pattern of activity, that is
believed to occur or exist but CANNOT be directly observed
o In studying an individual’s state of consciousness, researchers typically rely on:
Ø Info provided by the individual – self-reports
Ø Behaviour that is demonstrated – responses during experimental research
Ø Physiological changes that can be measured – recording brain activity
o Based on this info, inferences are made about an individual’s underlying state of consciousness
Ø As consciousness is not something that can be physically seen or dissected from the brain
What is consciousness?
Our awareness of objects and events in the external world and of our sensations, mental experiences and
own existence at any given moment
o Helps provide us with a sense of a self – a personal identity through which we experience the world
o Contents of our consciousness – whatever we are aware of at any given moment
Ø Your awareness of internal sensations – breathing, beating of heart
Ø Your awareness of your surroundings – where you are, who you are with, what you see etc.
Ø The memories of personal experiences
Ø The comments you make to yourself
Ø Your beliefs and attitudes
o Consciousness is: (don’t need to be able to define these)
Ø An experience: a moment by moment experience that is essential to what it means to be
human
Ø Personal: subjective understanding of your internal and external world
Ø Selective: can voluntarily shift attention from certain things to others or ignore
Ø Continuous: it will never be ‘empty’ during a typical day
Ø Constantly changing: new info is continually coming into our awareness
o Referred to as a ‘stream of consciousness’ by William James (1890)
Ø Consciousness is like a flowing stream – info is constantly flowing through it, moving and
changes as it flows
Ø what we dip into is what we choose to pay attention to -
States of consciousness: different levels of awareness that we experience at different times
CONTINUUM OF AWARENESS
What is the continuum?
Two distinctive extremes
o Total awareness – focused attention
Ø Attention is highly focused
Ø Concentration on specific thoughts, feelings or sensations dominates our consciousness – to
such an extent that other incoming info may go unnoticed
Ø EXAMPLE: absorbed in studying may not feel hungry despite having missed breakfast
o Complete lack of awareness – unconscious in a deep coma or a vegetative state
Ø May not experience any thoughts, feelings or sensations at all
, PSYCHOLOGY UNIT FOUR
Ø EXAMPLE: someone in a deep coma usually show no evidence of awareness of themselves or
their environment
o In a typical day, we experience many different states of consciousness and therefore many levels of
awareness
o Sometimes it is difficult to distinguish between the different states of consciousness and the
associated level of awareness on the continuum
o Psychologists can generally agree on a broadly-based distinction in terms of NWC and ASC
o Level of consciousness is determined by the level of awareness
NORMAL WAKING CONSCIOUSNESS (NWC)
What is it?
The states of consciousness associated with being awake and
aware of objects and events in the external world and of one’s
sensations, mental experiences and own existence
o Constantly changing: but our perceptions and thoughts
continue to be organised and clear and we remain
aware of our personal identity
o NOT a single state, rather there are varying levels of
awareness when we are awake
o we continually shift between different states and
therefore levels of awareness in NWC
Ø Most people spend about 2/3 of each day in
NWC – in which there are variations in mental
awareness as streams of info flow in and out of
our awareness
o Hard to draw clear lines indicating different states of
NWC, but if there have been changes in mental awareness to the extent that you notice changes in
alertness and responsiveness to internal and external stimuli – may have entered ASC
Ø Includes: focused, selective attention and divided attention
ALTERED STATE OF CONSCIOUSNESS (ASC)
What is it?
Any state of consciousness that is distinctly different from NWC in terms of level of awareness and
experience
o Distinguishable and measurable changes to mental processing of external and internal stimuli
Ø EXAMPLE: changes to self-awareness, emotional awareness and perceptions of time, place
and one’s surrounding
o 2 types of ASC
Ø Naturally occurring: are a normal part our lives and occur naturally during our everyday
activities without the need for any aid
§ Sleep
§ Daydreaming
§ Dreaming
Ø Induced: intentionally achieved using aid
§ Meditation
§ Hypnosis
§ Alcohol ingestion
, PSYCHOLOGY UNIT FOUR
Consumption of certain medications or illegal drugs
§
Unintentionally – due to an accident, disease or disorder such as brain trauma from a
§
blow to the head leading to a concussion
Ø Not necessarily mutually exclusive, as sleep may be naturally occurring or induced through
medication
o Brain wave patterns during a drug-induced altered state of consciousness = increased amplitude and
decreased frequency
ATTENTION
A concentration of mental activity that involves focusing on a specific stimulus while ignoring and therefore
excluding other stimuli
o More attention = higher degree of awareness. States at the top of the continuum require more
attention than the bottom.
o In NWC, our attention can either be focused on internal thoughts (how tired you feel) or external
stimuli (what the person next to you is saying)
o Changing focus is like using a torch to select different things to look at. This shift in attention can be
either:
Ø Intentional: such as concentrating on listening to arrangements for meeting friends
Ø Something we are unaware of: usually the shift in attention occurs without us being aware;
for example, if you are focused on the teacher’s explanation but the person next to you starts
talking, your attention will usually shift to them
Selective attention
Involves choosing to focus on specific stimuli to the exclusion of others (top of continuum)
o At any time, the focus (‘flashlight’) of our attention is only a limited range of what we can experience
overall.
o Increases the likelihood of the information transferring from sensory to STM, as there is more direct
attention paid to that info
o Factors that influence what we pay selective attention to
Ø If its personally important to us – for example: if someone says our name in another
conversation (the cocktail party phenomenon)
Ø If the stimulus is new/unusual (novel) – for example: TV ads use loud noise, colour etc.
Ø Changes in stimulation
o Performing complex tasks requires selective attention and a higher level of awareness than simple or
familiar tasks
Divided attention
The ability to distribute our attention and do two or more things simultaneously
o As we move down the continuum of consciousness – the level of attention required is not as focused
or selective
o In NWC people are often able to divide their attention among competing stimuli, such as washing a
car while listening to the radio and watching their children playing
o Our ability to divide our attention depends on how much conscious mental effort is required for
each task
o Research shows that we can multitask if the tasks are not complex, sufficiently similar and well
known – thereby requiring minimal mental effort
, PSYCHOLOGY UNIT FOUR
o With more complicated tasks, we may think we are dividing our attention, but rather we are shifting
our attention from one to the other
METHODS USED TO STUDY CONSCIOUSNESS
KDP 2: the measurement of physiological responses to indicate different states of consciousness, including
electroencephalograph (EEG), electromyograph (EMG), electro-oculograph (EOG) and other techniques to
investigate consciousness (measurement of speed and accuracy on cognitive tasks, subjective reporting of
consciousness, including sleep diaries and video monitoring)
Psychologists may use a variety of techniques to study states
of consciousness and identify specific responses associated
with different states. The most commonly used techniques
can be split into the following categories
o Measurement of physiological responses
o Measurement of performance on cognitive tasks
o Self-reports
o Video monitoring
MEASUREMENT OF PHYSIOLOGICAL RESPONSES
Allows researchers to obtain data on bodily changes and responses during various states of consciousness
o Most commonly measured physiological responses
Ø Changes in brain wave patterns
Ø Changes in muscle activity
Ø Changes in eye movements
Electroencephalograph (EEG)
A device that detects, amplifies and records general patterns of electrical activity of the brain over a period
of time.
o
NEED CLARIFICATION ON WHICH INFO IS STILL INCLUDED
- No need to analyse effect of certain stimulants or depressants on brain waves
o Each electrode attached to the scalp receives information from thousands of neurons that are
located in the vicinity
o Brain waves are recorded and displayed as a graph (electroencephalogram).
o Brain wave patterns vary according to:
Ø Frequency - number of brain waves per second
Ø
Ø Amplitude - intensity of brainwaves measured in microvolts (size of the peaks and troughs)
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