Essentials of Psychology

Consciousness

can be defined as the sensations, thoughts, and feelings you're aware of at any given moment. Alertness, attention, and clarity are characteristics of waking consciousness.

Altered states of consciousness

Dream states, hypnotic trance, meditation. Altered states are also produced by both legal and illegal drugs.

Stages of Sleep: Stage 1

The stage when you may experience a hypnic jerk, like the sudden movement of your leg. This happens as your muscles relax for rest and sleep. In stage 1 sleep, your heart rate slows, and your breathing becomes irregular.

Stages of Sleep: Stage 2

In the second stage of sleep, body temperature lowers. At this point, sleep spindles appear on an electroencephalograph (EEG), a device for measuring brain waves. Sleep spindles are thought to mark the actual boundary of sleep.

Stages of Sleep: Stage 3

Longer, slower brain waves appear on the EEG in stage 3 sleep. These large, slow waves signal a deeper loss of ordinary consciousness and deeper sleep.

Stages of Sleep: Stage 4

The deepest stage of sleep is also the final stage. Nearly all of the waves are slow waves (called delta waves). After a period in stage 4, typical sleep ascends upward into stages 3, 2, and, finally, stage 1 again before being fully awake.

REM Sleep: The Paradox of Sleep

The two main states of deep sleep have to do with whether a person is dreaming. Dreaming and rapid eye movements (REM) characterize REM sleep. When a sleep researcher wakes a sleeping subject because the subject's eyes are moving rapidly under the eyelids

How Much Sleep Is Necessary

Sleep is a common and necessary altered state. Both body and mind benefit from regular patterns of sleep and wakefulness. However, sleep patterns vary. Some people are short sleepers and some are long sleepers. The inventor Thomas Alva Edison was famous f

The Function and Meaning of Dreaming

REM sleep and dreaming are fascinating phenomena. Arguments over the purposes of dreaming and the effects of REM sleep deprivation continue. Dreaming remains a mystery to many researchers�much like consciousness itself. Your text introduces you to three t

The Function and Meaning of Dreaming...

Unconscious wish-fulfillment theory�Sigmund Freud proposed that dreams reflect people's deep forbidden desires. People dream what they would really like to experience in waking life. However, the latent content of the dreams (forbidden desires) is disguis

Sleep Disturbances

Insomnia is a common problem. Most people experience this inability to sleep from time to time�usually during times of stress or inner conflict. Insomnia can be temporary or chronic. President Dwight Eisenhower reportedly suffered from chronic insomnia. I

Circadian Rhythms: Life Cycles

Patterns of sleep and wakefulness typically follow 24-hour biological rhythms called circadian rhythms, which can be disrupted when people travel across time zones. This phenomenon is known as jet lag.

Hypnosis

The altered state of consciousness known as hypnosis is a reminder that the mind holds many mysteries. The main issues surrounding hypnosis are (1) induction, (2) effects, and (3) its relation to ordinary waking consciousness. With respect to the first is

Meditation

is an exercise in which a person becomes extremely relaxed and lets go of the worries of everyday life. The body's physical response during meditation is known as the relaxation response, and this response is considered essential to the meditating process

Drug Use: The Highs and Lows of Consequences

You should begin this section concerning psychoactive drugs by understanding basic terms. What's referred to as dependence may involve psychological dependence, physical dependence, or a combination of the two. Clinically, psychological dependence is char

Classical Conditioning

lassical conditioning is based largely on what happens before a response. Reflex responses are automatic responses to everyday stimuli. Salivation is an example of a reflex response. When you're hungry and see a pizza, you salivate. In classical condition

Applying Conditioning Principles to Human Behavior

Let's say you want to use classical conditioning to help a child overcome a fear of snakes. You might pair a harmless snake (NS) with some kind of reward, like candy (an US that produces an UR). The child will associate the sight of the harmless snake wit

Extinction

Conditioned responses are learned responses. They must be reinforced during the training or acquisition period. A behavior is reinforced if a CS is paired often enough with an US to create expectancy in the subject�just as Pavlov's dogs began to expect th

Generalization and Discrimination

Stimulus generalization is observed when a conditioned response follows a stimulus that's similar to the original conditioned stimulus. Among people who fear rats, mice or hamsters may evoke a similar response. By contrast, stimulus discrimination happens

Operant Conditioning

Reinforcement works best when its response is contingent, meaning it occurs only after a specific response occurs. While the mouse is in the Skinner box, the food pellet reinforcement is contingent only on pressing the lever, not on any other behavior. If