...Sleep, Dreams and consciousness During our lifetime, the mental process of our conscious mind is working asleep or awake. Though we experience altered levels of our consciousness during sleep, comes, meditation or when we use psychedelic drugs. our view of these levels of consciousness depends on if it is taken from a western or eastern perspective. During sleep dreams fulfil our unconscious desires and help us to rest and restore our mind and body if we don’t get adequate sleep dyssomnias may impair our daily functioning while parasomnias manifest the dissonance of our mind. The mind is a powerful tool how well it is functioning tells the quality of a person. Literature reviews have shown that Parasomnias has been used in the legal system to obtain a not guilty ruling for many serious offences such as murder. But I think this is an injustice if Freud’s psychoanalytical theory says “ it is an attempt to fulfil an unconscious desire”. Then such persons are guilty. And it is an abuse of the body of knowledge in psychology that criminals use as an excuse to literally get away with murder it is even more dangerous when a wrong act is done unconsciously Society is quick to condemn views which differ from their own and when an eastern view on altered states consciousness is presented, those who hold a western outlook question the validity of the experiences. Because scientifically it may not be able to be proven. Yet there are more than two thousand recorded cases of reincarnation...
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...Chapter Overview 5.1 Overview: Consciousness, Brain Activity, Levels of Awareness CONCEPT LEARNING CHECK 5.2 Stages of Sleep CONCEPT LEARNING CHECK 5.1 Consciousness and Psychology 5.3 Dreams Theories of Dreams Dreams as a Reflection of Unconscious Wishes 5.2 Sleep Biological Rhythms and Stages of Sleep Sleep Theories Effects of Sleep Deprivation Sleep Disorders Insomnia Sleep Apnea Narcolepsy Parasomnias CRITICAL THINKING APPLICATION Dreams as Interpreted Brain Activity Dream Contents CONCEPT LEARNING CHECK 5.3 Theories of Dreams 5 Learning Objectives States of Consciousness 5.1 5.2 Define consciousness. Describe how consciousness relates to psychology. Describe the changes in brain wave activity that occur during the different stages of sleep. Understand why sleep deprivation is harmful. Understand why deep sleep is important. Understand why REM sleep is important. Describe some common sleep disorders. 5.3 5.4 5.5 5.6 Describe the two main theories of dreams. Explain the two theories of hypnosis. Discuss the effects and benefits of meditation. List and describe the four categories of psychoactive drugs. Describe the effects of psychoactive drugs on the nervous system. 5.4 Hypnosis Critical Thinking About Hypnosis Theories of Hypnosis Altered State of Consciousness Role Playing Divided Consciousness 5.6 Drug Use Mechanism of Action of Psychoactive Drugs Depressants Alcohol Narcotics/Opiates Summary of...
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...STATES OF CONSCIOUSNESS Consciousness - level of awareness of ourselves and of our environment - awareness of what is going on Mere-exposure effect - psychological phenomena whereby people feel a preference for people or things simply because they are familiar Priming - a phenomenon, often used as an experimental technique, whereby a certain stimulus sensitizes the subject to later presentation of a similar stimulus - Research participants respond more quickly and/or accurately to questions they have seen before, even if they do not remember seeing them LEVELS OF CONSCIOUSNESS * Conscious level -Information about your environment you are currently aware of * Nonconscious level -body processes controlled by your mind that we are not usually aware of * Preconscious level -information about yourself or your environment that you are not currently thinking about * Subconscious level -information that we are not currently aware of but we know must exist due to behavior * Unconscious level -Psychoanalytic psychologists believe some events and feelings are unacceptable to our conscious mind and are repressed into the unconscious mind STATES OF CONSCIOUSNESS A. SLEEP - a naturally recurring state characterized by reduced or absent consciousness, relatively suspended sensory activity, and inactivity of nearly all voluntary muscles -To psychologists, asleep as being unconscious is incorrect * SLEEP CYCLE -typical...
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...# 8 Introduction to Phychology BBA-1 Consciousness Instructed By Ms. Ghazala Danish Consciousness: Consciousness refers to your individual awareness of your unique thoughts, memories, feelings, sensations and environment. Your conscious experiences are constantly shifting and changing. It is prosperity of particular parts of the brain, not of the brain as a whole. The awareness of various cognitive processes and making decision. For example, in one moment you may be focused on reading this article. Your consciousness may then shift to the memory of a conversation you had earlier with a co-worker. Next, you might notice how uncomfortable your chair is or maybe you are mentally planning dinner. Cognitive Process: | Cognitive processes are very important for human behavior. It is about knowledge and the way people use their knowledge. For example, sleep, looks dream are count in cognitive process. Consciousness as a social phenomenon: Consciousness is that we aware of ourselves of our thoughts, our perceptions, our actions, our memories and our feelings. Historically, people have taken three philosophical positions about the nature of consciousness. The first and earliest position is that consciousness is not a natural phenomenon, (natural phenomenon is that subject to the laws of nature that all scientists attempt to discover: laws involving matter and purely physical forces. This position says that consciousness is something supernatural and miraculous...
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...7: States of Consciousness CHAPTER PREVIEW Consciousness is our awareness of ourselves and our environment. Conscious information processing enables us to exercise control and to communicate our mental states to others. Beneath the surface, unconscious processing occurs simultaneously on many parallel tracks. Our daily schedule of waking and sleeping is governed by a biological clock known as circadian rhythm. Our sleep also follows a repeating cycle. Awakening people during REM sleep yields predictable “dreamlike” reports that are mostly of ordinary events. Freud’s view that dreams can be traced back to erotic wishes is giving way to newer theories, for example, that dreams help us process information and fix it in memory or that dreams erupt from neural activity. Studies of hypnosis indicate that, although hypnotic procedures may facilitate recall, the hypnotist’s beliefs frequently work their way into subjects’ recollections. Hypnosis can be at least temporarily therapeutic and has the potential of bringing significant pain relief. Hypnosis may be an extension both of normal principles of social influence and of everyday splits in consciousness. Psychoactive drugs also alter consciousness. Depressants act by depressing neural functioning. Although their effects are pleasurable, they impair memory and self-awareness and may have other physical consequences. Stimulants act at the synapses by influencing the brain’s neurotransmitters. Their effects depend on...
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...A person’s state of consciousness is defined as the individual’s awareness of his or her own thoughts, memories, emotions, and external stimuli in their specific environment. In recent years, researchers have explored states of consciousness during sleep and have debated whether or not people who perform actions while asleep are actually in a reduced state of consciousness. Many cases in the past have shown people completing complicated and often unbelievable actions while sleeping. Some instances include sleep eating, sleep sex and even sleep murder. One case in particular that caused much controversy is the Kenneth Park’s sleep murder case. Parks was a 23-year-old Toronto man with a wife and infant daughter. Parks had severe anxiety and insomnia due to his own gambling debts and lack of a job. Parks stole $32,000 from the electric company that employed him and was later fired after charges were brought against him....
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...Almost every night we have dreams while we’re sleeping. Dreams are a series of thoughts, images, and sensations occurring in a person’s mind while sleeping. Dreams are also a result of the forebrain reacting to random activity that’s going on in the brain. Some dreams are scary, fun, and romantic. Most dreams occur during REM sleep (stage five) but you can also dream in other sleep stages. Most people dream 3-6 times per night, the dreams only last a few minutes. Some people don’t remember most of their dreams once they wake up. Dreaming can help you develop long term memory. The dream experience helps with development of the general mental abilities. Sometimes the things we think about before falling asleep goes into play with our dreams. Alcohol can affect your dream and sleep quality. Most people believe there’s a little meaning behind every dream, especially the death ones. When you think about a kid having a dream you think it’s a fun and adventurous dream but they actually have the same dreams we have. Girls have more disturbing dreams than boys. Dreaming helps the kids adapted to the changes that occur in each stage of growth and development. Some kids experience night terrors, which make the child move, speak, and his or her eyes open but not be fully awake. If your child has night terrors it doesn’t mean anything is wrong with them. Some kids have more nightmares than adults until age 8. The time we spend in our dreams shape how our brain develops and may influence...
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...State Of Consciousness State of consciousness, consciousness is variously defined as subjective experience, awareness, the ability to experience "feeling", wakefulness, or the executive control system of the mind (Google definition). There are many consciousness people face as in enduring issues with the mind body relation, sleep patterns as in why do we need sleep, rhythms of sleep , sleep deprivation, sleep disorders, dreams and why do we dream. Sleep, as a human or animal we need to sleep because our body regenerates its self when it’s at rest. Humans spend at least one-third in an altered state of consciousness. When we are tired we crave to go to sleep just as if we are hungry we crave food. We can’t live without both. No human can stay p past twenty hours without feeling like they are about to crash. No one knows exactly why we need sleep but it plays and important part in restorative function. When humans are asleep there are rhythms of sleep. Circadian rhythm is a biological rhythm that last about 24 hours. There are 4 stages the sleeper enters when they fall asleep. Stage one is when the brain gives you the signal your muscles to relax. It also gives off that your heart is to beat slower and when that happens your temperature begins to drop. Stage 2 is a light sleep. You’re not fully asleep but you can be awakening. Stage 3 you are in a deeper sleep. Your blood pressure begins to get lower because your brain gives off that message...
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...Consciousness is usually defined as awareness of our selves and our environment. We can have different states of Consciousness meaning different levels of awareness and they occur naturally or be induced by external factors such as heroin and other drugs or internal factors such as our own mental effors and other mental skills. The stage range from alertness to sleep and everything in between. Alertness is most people think about it when they think about being Conscious. When you are alert, you are awake, aware of who you are, where you are, and what is going on your environment. You can focus your attention, encode information and memory engage in conversation all stuff you normally do. Daydreaming occurs naturally. Sometimes you can find...
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...Consciousness Our awareness of our environment and ourselves. Example: I am conscious I where I live. Definition: Knowing your surroundings. Circadian rhythm The biological clock; regular bodily rhythms that occur on a 24-hour cycle. Example: body knows when to wake up and to sleep and eat. Definition: 24-hour body clock. REM sleep Rapid eye moment sleep; a recurring sleep stage during which vivid dreams commonly occurs. Also known as paradoxical sleep, because the muscles are relaxed (except for minor twitches) but other body systems are active. Example: body moving without control. Definition: twitching during sleeping. Alpha waves The relatively slow brain waves of a relaxed, awake state. Example: sleepy. Definition: relaxed, about to fall asleep. Sleep Periodic, natural loss of consciousness - as distinct from unconsciousness resulting from a coma, general anesthesia, or hibernation. Example: body resting. Definition: natural body resting. Hallucinations False sensory experiences, such as seeing something in the absence of an external visual stimulus. Example: seeing unusually things. Definition: seeing objects that don’t exist. Delta waves The large, slow brain waves associated with deep sleep. Example: snoring. Definition: Deep into sleep. NREM sleep Non-rapid eye movement sleep; encompasses all sleep stages except for REM sleep. Example: no REM sleep. Definition: no rapid eye. Insomnia: recurring problems in falling or staying asleep. Example:...
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...Holzinger (2009), suggests that dreams have been a major importance to cultures throughout the ages. Native Americans viewed dreams as portals to the spirit world, paths to prophecy and quests. A common phenomenon states, there is an experience in which one is aware that one is dreaming and is able to control what happens in the dream. This experience is known as lucid dreaming. Aristotle may have been the first to write about lucid dreaming, although he did not have a term for it (Holzinger B. , 2009). And some Tibetan Buddhists have been practicing something like lucid dreaming for a long time. In Tibetan Buddhism, it was practiced as a form of yoga, called dream yoga, from the eighth century. The goal of dream yoga is to examine your consciousness and bring you to a constant state of awareness. A big part of the belief system of Buddhism is recognizing the world for what it is, free from deception. A lucid dreamer recognizes the dream world for what it is, a dream (Holzinger B. , 2009). A Dutch psychiatrist named Frederik van Eeden came up with the term for lucid dreams in 1913. He claimed that there are nine well-defined types of dreams in all, including ordinary, symbolic and vivid dreams. He recorded several of his own lucid dreams, and his thoughts during them and upon awakening. He remarked that they often involved flying (Holzinger B. , 2009). Lucid dreaming is normally a rare experience. Though most people report having had a lucid dream at least once in their lives...
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...Report: Dream Psychology by Sigmund Freud Yvette R. Gibbs Grand Canyon University: Personality Psychology June 27, 2014 Dream Psychology Chapter Summaries Sigmund Freud, the father of psychoanalysis, was a physiologist, medicinal physician, psychologist, and instrumental intellectual of the 1900’s. Freud said dreams are windows into our unconscious mind where the angsts, longings, and feelings exist that we stifle in some type or another to conceal from conscious thought. In other words, we do not want to realize them so they get constrained into the alcoves of the subconscious. Thus, with respect to the concept of wish- fulfilment and dreaming, we desire that the thing that concerns us in the subconscious, expressed by means of the dreams. Consequently, on this basis, both “undesirable” and “positive” (things we wish do happen) dreams are the result of wish-fulfilment. Chapter I: Dreams Have a Meaning Freud was a true believer that all dreams had some meaning. Dreams are our unconscious feelings. Whether good or bad thoughts we have and do not act on manifest into our dreams; they are usually indirect clues. Freud (1920) states the basis on “a peculiar state of psychical activity”. Some spectators recognize the dream may be capable of exceptional successes in selected areas (e.g. Memory) (Freud, 1920). Some medical writers believe that dreams are merely stimuli from the body; contrary to their beliefs, dreams do have some meaning (Freud, 1920). Reading one’s dream the...
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...Nelson Most dreams contain messages that serve to teach us something about ourselves. Unfortunately, many a times we forget what we dream about. We go about our daily lives and routines without thinking about a dream we may have had that night. With recurring dreams, the message may be so important and /or powerful that it just will not go away. The frequent repetition of such dreams forces you to pay attention and confront the dream. The dream is trying to tell you something. Such dreams are often nightmarish or frightening in their content, which also helps you to take note and pay attention to them. Recurring dreams are quite common and are often triggered by a certain life experience or situation or a problem that keeps coming back again and again. These dreams may recur daily, once a week, or once a month, but whatever the frequency, there is little variation to the dream. It usually points to a personal weakness, fear, or your inability to cope with something in your life – past or present. The repetitive patterns in your dreams can reveal some of the most valuable information on yourself. It may point to a conflict, situation or matter at work or at home, a situation in your waking life that remains unresolved or unsettled. Some urgent underlying message in your unconscious is demanding to be understood. Dreams are strongly associated with sleep. They may occur in all stages of sleep including the REM sleep and NREM sleep. It is implied that dreams are prevalent...
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...comprehend that what we often regard as dreams, generally accepted as idle fancies, are, in truth, stray pages torn out from the life and experiences of the inner man, and the dim recollection of which at the moment of awakening becomes more or less distorted by our physical memory. The latter catches mechanically a few impressions of the thoughts, facts witnessed, and deeds performed by the inner man during its hours of complete freedom. For our Ego lives its own separate life within its prison of clay whenever it becomes free from the trammels of matter, i.e., during the sleep of the physical man. This Ego it is which is the actor, the real man, the true human self. But the physical man cannot feel or be conscious during dreams; for the personality, the outer man, with its brain and thinking apparatus, are paralyzed more or less completely. -- Transactions of the Blavatsky Lodge, p. 50 Thus,Sleep and death are brothers, according to the old Greek proverb. However, comments G. de Purucker that” they are not merely brothers, born of the same fabric of human consciousness, but are in all verity one, identical. Death is a perfect sleep, with its interim awakenings of a kind, such as in the devachan, and a full human awakening in the succeeding reincarnation. Sleep is an imperfect fulfilment of death, nature's prophecy of the future death. Nightly we sleep, and therefore nightly we partially die. Indeed, one may go still farther and say that sleep and death and all the various processes...
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...just like sunlight. And even people suffering from exaggerated REM will suffer from sleep deprivation and fatigue while they are awake. Usually, a fully-grown person has about 4 to 5 cycles of REM sleep, consisting of about 25% of a night's sleep. A new-born child's sleep can consist of as high as 50% REM type sleep (Davidmann, 1998). As I previously stated, a person would go through the sleep stage cycle four to five times a night, hence four to five dreams per night. With this in mind it can be calculated the average human being will have 136,000 dreams in a lifetime, spending about six total years in the REM stage dreaming. Mentally retarted people and people with less IQ's are tend to have less REM sleep as compared to other mental disorders. The reason this cases are still unknown. Sigmund Freud first argued that the motivation behind all the dreams content is wish fulfilment and the abetment of a dream is often to be found the day past the dream, which he called the day residue. In the case of small children they dream about those things that they have encountered in their previous day since they dream quite...
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