GEN 205: Introduction to Psychology

Chapter 4: States of Consciousness

Kazi Nur Hossain

Adjunct Faculty
Department of Social Relations
East West University
Kazinur_207@psy.jnu.ac.bd

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 Contents

 Nature of Consciousness
 Stages of Sleep
 REM Sleep: The Paradox of Sleep
 Why Do We Sleep and How Much Sleep is Necessary
 The Function of Meaning of Dreaming
 Sleep Disturbances: Slumbering Problems

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 Nature of Consciousness
Definition of Consciousness
 William James first pointed out the term
“consciousness”.
 The awareness of the sensations, thoughts, and
feelings being experienced at a given point (Feldman,
2009).
 The moment-to-moment awareness of ourselves
(internal stimuli) and our environment (external stimuli).
Characteristics of Consciousness
 Subjective and private
 Dynamic (ever changing)
 Self-reflective and central to our sense of self
 Selective 3
 Nature of Consciousness (Cont’d)
Levels of Consciousness
 Sigmund Freud (1900/1953) proposed that the human
mind consists of three levels of awareness:
1. Conscious
 The conscious mind contains thoughts and perceptions
of which we are currently aware.
 For example: the sentence you just read, if you were
paying attention.
2. Preconscious
 Preconscious mental events are outside current
awareness but can easily be recalled under certain
conditions.
 For example: you may not have thought about a friend
for years, but when someone mentions your friend’s
name, you become aware of pleasant memories. 4
 Nature of Consciousness (Cont’d)
3. Unconscious
 Unconscious events cannot be brought into conscious
awareness under ordinary circumstances.
 Some unconscious content-such as unacceptable
sexual and aggressive urges, traumatic memories, and
threatening emotional conflicts- is kept out of conscious
awareness because it would arouse anxiety, guilt, or
other negative emotions.

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 Nature of Consciousness (Cont’d)

Functions of Consciousness

1. To monitor ourselves and our environment so that

percepts, memories, and thoughts are represented in
awareness, and
2. To control ourselves and our environment so that we
are able to initiate and terminate behavioral and
cognitive activities.

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 Sleep
 The opposite state of consciousness is sleep.
 Sleep is far from a uniform state that we enter into shortly
after retiring and then exit from upon awakening.
 People spend roughly one-third of their lives asleep.
 Sleep researchers measure it in well equipped laboratory by
recording the EEG.
 EEG or Electroencephalogram is the graphic recording
of the electrical changes, or brain waves.
 When we are awake and alert, EEG recordings of our
brain’s electrical activity would show a pattern of beta
waves (high speed/frequency of about 15-30cps, but low
amplitude/height).
 When we are feeling relaxed and drowsy, our brain waves
slow down and alpha waves occur at about 8-12cps.
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 The Five Stages of Sleep
 People progress through a series of distinct stages of sleep
during a night’s rest – known as Stage 1 through Stage 4
(Non-REM) and REM Sleep.
 The cycle of these stages is lasting about 90 minutes.
 Each of these sleep stages is associated with a unique pattern
of brain waves, in Figure.

Stage 1 Sleep
 The state of transition between wakefulness and sleep,
characterized by relatively rapid, low-amplitude brain waves.
 This stage lasts only a few minutes.
 During stage 1, images sometimes appear, although this is not
true dreaming.
 Hypnic jerk- body being “shaken it out” bcoz muscle tension
The Five Stages of Sleep (Cont’d)
The Five Stages of Sleep (Cont’d)
 The Five Stages of Sleep (Cont’d)
Stage 2 Sleep

 A sleep deeper than that of stage 1, characterized by a

slower, more regular wave pattern, along with momentary
interruptions of “sleep spindles”.

 The configuration of the sharply pointed and spiky

waves.

 This stage makes up about half of the total sleep.

 Body temperature drops; slow heart rate; irregular and

shallow breathing.
 The Five Stages of Sleep (Cont’d)

Stage 3 Sleep

 A sleep characterized by slow brain waves, with higher

peaks and lower valleys in the wave pattern.

Stage 4 Sleep
 The deepest stage of sleep, during which we are least
responsive to outside stimulation.
 The Five Stages of Sleep (Cont’d)
REM (Rapid Eye Movement) Sleep

 Sleep occupying 20 percent of an adult’s sleeping time

 It is characterized by increased heart rate, blood pressure,

and breathing rate; erections; eye movements; and the
experience of dreaming.

 While all this activity is occurring, paradoxically the major

muscles of the body appear to be paralyzed.
 The Five Stages of Sleep (Cont’d)
REM (Rapid Eye Movement) Sleep

 Although some dreaming occurs in Non-REM stages of

sleep, dreams in REM period are the most vivid and easily
remembered.

 People deprived of REM sleep show a rebound effect.

 REM deprived sleepers spend significantly more time in

REM sleep than they normally would.
 The Five Stages of Sleep (Cont’d)

 In the first half of the night, sleep is dominated by stages 3

and 4.
 In the second half of the night, sleep is dominated by stages
1, 2, and REM sleep.
 Why Do We Sleep?
 Sleep is a requirement for normal human functioning.
 To keep our bodies tranquil “rest and relaxation” period to
revitalize ourselves,
 Experiments with rats show that total sleep deprivation
results in death. But Why?
1. Sleep permitted us to conserve energy at night.

2. Reduced activity of the brain during Non-REM sleep may give

neurons in the brain a chance to repair themselves.

3.The onset of REM sleep stops the release of neurotransmitters

called monoamines, and so permits receptor cells to get some
necessary rest and to increase their sensitivity during periods
of wakefulness.
 Why Do We Sleep (Cont’d)
Opponent-Process Model of Sleep and Wakefulness
 This theory was proposed by Dale Edgar and William
Dement in 1992.
 According to this theory, the brain possesses two opponent
process that govern the tendency to fall asleep or remain
awake. The opponent process are:
Homeostatic Sleep Drive
 A physiological process that strives to obtain the amount of
sleep required for a stable level of daytime alertness.
 It is active throughout the night, but it also operates during
the daytime.
 Throughout the day, the need to sleep is continuously
building.
 If we have slept too little the previous night, the tendency to
fall asleep during the day will be significant.
 Opponent-Process Model (Cont’d)
Clock-Dependent Alerting Process
 The process in the brain that arouses us at a particular time
each day.
 It is controlled by the so-called biological clock, which
consists of two tiny neural structures located in the center of
the brain.
 This clock controls a series of psychological and
physiological changes, including rhythms of alertness, that
are termed circadian rhythms because they occur
approximately every 24 hours.
 The biological clock is affected by exposure to light:
Daylight signals it to stop the secretion of melatonin, a
hormone that induces sleep.
 Opponent-Process Model (Cont’d)
Conclusion
 The two opponent processes interact to produce our
daily cycle of sleep and wakefulness.
 Whether we are asleep or awake at any given time
depends on the relative strength of the two processes.
 During the day, the clock-dependent alerting process
usually overcomes the drive for sleep, but during the
evening our alertness decreases as the urge to sleep
becomes stronger.
 Late in the evening, the biological clock becomes
inactive and we fall asleep.
 How Much Sleep is Necessary?
 Today most people sleep between 7 and 8 hrs each night.
 Some people need as little as 3 hrs of sleep.
 Sleep requirements also vary over the course of lifetime: as
they age, people generally need less and less sleep.
 Sleep Disorders
1. Insomnia
2. Sleep Apnea
3. Nightmares
4. Night Terrors
5. Narcolepsy
6. Sleeptalking & Sleepwalking
1. Insomnia
 A sleep disorder involving recurring problems in falling or
staying asleep.
 It is a problem that afflicts as many as one-third of all
people (American Insomnia Association, 2005).
 Insomnia could be due to a particular situation, such as the
breakup of a relationship, concern about a test score, or the
loss of a job.
 Sleep Disorders (Cont’d)
 Some people are simply unable to fall asleep easily, or they
go to sleep readily but wake up frequently during the night.
Treatment of Insomnia
 Stimulus Control: involves conditioning your body to
associate stimuli in your sleep environment (such as your
bed) with sleep, rather than with waking activities and
sleeplessness.
2. Sleep Apnea (Apnea=Stopping respiration)
 A condition in which a person has difficulty breathing while
sleeping.
 About 20 million people suffer from sleep apnea.
 It usually occurs in overweight, middle-aged men.
 The result is disturbed, fitful sleep, as the person is
constantly reawakened when the lack of oxygen becomes
great enough to trigger a waking response.
 Sleep Disorders (Cont’d)
 Some people with sleep apnea wake as many as 500 times
during the course of a night, although they may not even be
aware that they have wakened.
 it stresses the heart and contributes to hypertension and
daytime fatigue.
 Sleep apnea may play a role in sudden infant death
syndrome (SIDS), a mysterious killer of seemingly normal
infants who die while sleeping.
 Their bed partners repeatedly awakened by the gasps, loud
snores, and jerking body movements.
Treatment of Sleep Apnea
 Surgery may be performed to remove the obstruction
blocking the airways.
 Sleep Disorders (Cont’d)
3. Nightmares
 It is vivid, frightening dreams typically associated with fears
like falling, death, or calamity.
 It occurs during REM sleep and thus can take place at any
time during the night (usually toward morning).
 Nightmares are bad dreams and virtually everyone has
them.
 About 5% of people suffers from chronic nightmares.
 Sufferers of chronic nightmares tend to have other
emotional problems or histories of trauma.
 Arousal during nightmares is similar to levels experienced
during pleasant dreams.
 Sleep Disorders (Cont’d)
4. Night Terrors
 Sudden awakenings from non-REM sleep (usually occurring
in stage 4) that are accompanied by extreme fear, panic,
and strong physiological arousal.
 It may be so frightening that a sleeper awakens with a
shriek.
 Although night terrors initially produce great agitation,
victims usually can get back to sleep fairly quickly.
 It occur most frequently in children (up to 6%) between the
ages of 3 and 8.
Treatment of Night Terrors
 In most childhood cases, treatment is simply to wait for the
night terrors to diminish with age.
 Sleep Disorders (Cont’d)
5. Narcolepsy
 Involves extreme daytime sleepiness and sudden,
uncontrollable sleep attacks that may last from less than a
minute to an hour.
 About 1 out of every 1000 people suffers from it.
 No matter what the activity and no matter how much they
rest at night, persons with narcolepsy may experience sleep
attacks at any time.
 People with narcolepsy report a lowered quality of life and
they are prone to accidents.
 The causes of narcolepsy are not known, although there
could be a genetic component because narcolepsy runs in
families.
Treatments
 Daytime naps and stimulant drugs
 Sleep Disorders (Cont’d)
6. Sleeptalking & Sleepwalking
 Both occur during stage 4 sleep and are more common in
children than in adults.
 They are usually harmless.
 They have a vague consciousness of the world around
them, and a sleepwalker may be able to walk with agility
around obstructions in a crowded room.
 Sleepwalkers may navigate around furniture, go to the
bathroom, or find something to eat.
 Sleepwalker often return to bed and awaken in the morning
with no memory of the event.
 About 10-30% of children sleepwalk at least once, but less
than 5% of adults do.
 Sleep Disorders (Cont’d)
 A tendency to sleepwalk may be inherited, and daytime
stress, alcohol, and certain illness and medications also
increase sleepwalking.

Treatment of Sleepwalk
 Routinely awakening children before the time they typically
sleepwalk
 Psychotherapy
 Hypnosis
 Medication
 Advice for a Good Night’s Sleep
1. Exercise during the day (best in the late afternoon)
2. Choose a regular bedtime
3. Drink a glass of warm milk (>serotonin) at bedtime
4. Avoid alcohol, caffeine, soft-drinks, and chocolate before
bedtime
5. Don’t eat heavily before bedtime
6. Avoid sleeping pills
7. Avoid spending too much time in bed
8. Don’t try to force sleep
9. Avoid stressful thoughts before bedtime and engage in
soothing activities that help you relax
10. Avoid sleeping in on weekends
11. Avoid sleeping during the day if you have insomnia
12. If nothing else works, aim for less sleep; go to bed later or
get up earlier.
 Dream
Definition
 Dreaming is an altered state of consciousness in which
picture stories are constructed based on memories and
current concerns, or on fantasies and images.

Characteristics
1. Dreams are made up of a succession of usually vivid and
colorful visual images.
2. Dreams are fantastic in that the space-time relationships of
waking consciousness are distorted.
3. Dreams are often charged with emotion (such as
pleasurable or frightening).
4. Dreams have a delusional quality (imagination).
 What Do We Dream About?
 Although dream tend to be subjective to the person having
them, there are common elements that frequently occur in
everyone's dreams that are given below:
% of Dreams Reporting at Least One
Thematic Event Event
Males Females

Aggression 47 44
Friendliness 38 42
Sexuality 12 4
Misfortune 36 33
Success 15 8
Failure 15 10
 Our cultural background, life experiences, and current
concerns can shape dream content.
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 When Do We Dream?
 Throughout the night we dream most often during
REM sleep, when activity in many brain areas is
highest.
 In contrast, people awakened from non-REM sleep
report dreams about 15-50% of the time.
 Our REM dreams are more likely to be vivid,
bizarre, and story-like than non-REM dreams.
 REM dreams typically are longer, allowing more
time for vivid content to unfold.

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 Why Do We Dream/ Theories of Dreaming
1. Unconscious Wish Fulfillment Theory
 Sigmund Freud’s theory that dreams represent
unconscious wishes that dreamers desire to see
fulfilled.
 Freud proposed two types of contents of dreams:
Latent Content of Dreams
 According to Freud, actual wishes or the
“disguised” meanings of dreams, hidden by more
obvious subjects.
Manifest Content of Dreams
 According to Freud, the apparent story line of
dreams.
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 Theories of Dreaming (Cont’d)
 According to Freud, dreams contain common symbols with
universal meanings as the follows:
Symbol (Manifest Content of Dream) Interpretation (Latent Content)
Climbing up a stairway, crossing a bridge, flying Sexual intercourse
in an airplane, walking down a long hallway,
entering a room, train travelling through a tunnel
Apples, peaches, grapefruits Breasts
Bullets, fire, snakes, sticks, umbrellas, guns, Male sex organs
hoses, knives
Ovens, boxes, tunnels, closets, caves, bottles, Female sex organs
ships

 Many psychologists reject Freud’s view and they believe

that the direct, overt action of a dream is the focal point of
its meaning.
 Some dreams reflect events occurring in the dreamer’s
environment as he or she is sleeping.
 Brain scan research lends support for the wish fulfillment
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theory.
 Theories of Dream (Cont’d)
2. Dreams-For-Survival Theory
 The theory suggesting that dreams permit information
that is critical for our daily survival to be reconsidered
and reprocessed during sleep.
 Dreaming is considered an inheritance from our animal
ancestors, whose small brains were unable to sift
sufficient information during waking hours.
 Dreams represent concerns about our daily lives,
illustrating our uncertainties, indecisions, ideas, and
desires.
 Dreams are seen, as consistent with everyday living.
 Rather than being disguised wishes, as Freud
suggested, they represent key concerns growing out of
our daily experiences. 35
 Theories of Dream (Cont’d)
3. Activation-Synthesis Theory
 Hobson’s theory that the brain produces random
electrical energy during REM sleep that stimulates
memories lodged in various portions of the brain.
 Because we have a need to make sense of our world
even while asleep, the brain takes these chaotic
memories and weaves them into a logical story line,
filling in the gaps to produce a rational scenario.
 Hobson does not entirely reject the view that dreams
reflect unconscious wishes.
 He suggests that the particular scenario a dreamer
produces is not random but instead is a clue to the
dreamer’s fears, emotions, and concerns.
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 Comparison Among three Theories of
Dream

Theory Basic Explanation Meaning of Is Meaning of

Dreams Dream Disguised?
Unconscious Dreams represent Latent content Yes, by manifest
Wish unconscious wishes the reveals content of dreams
Fulfillment dreamer wants to fulfill unconscious wishes
Dreams-for- Information relevant to Clues to everyday Not necessarily
survival daily survival is concerns about
reconsidered and survival
reprocessed
Activation- Dreams are the result of Dream scenario Not necessarily
Synthesis random activation of that is constructed
various memories, which is related to
are tied together in a dreamer’s concerns
logical story line

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