
Consciousness
Gazzaniga • Heatherton • Halpern (2013)
Consciousness
- Erik Ramsey is “locked in...”
- Suffered traumatic injury to his brain as
the result of an automobile accident
- He can see, hear and feel, but he cannot
move or communicate with the outside
world...at least not yet
- In a coma, but aware
- Patterns of brain activity in a coma
sufferer were similar topatterns found in
those not in a coma (Owen et al., 2006)
- Communication may be possible with
coma patients previously believed to be
unreachable
- People can be conscious even when they
appear not to be
- All conscious experience is associated
with brain activity
- Variations in consciousness occur
naturally
- Consciousness can be manipulated
- Conscious experience varies from person
to person
Consciousness is a Subjective
Experience
- Consciousness: The
subjective experience of the
world, resulting from brain
activity
 The brain and the
mind are inseparable
 Each of us experiences
consciousness personally
We cannot know if two people
experience the world in exactly the
same way
Freud’s Take on Consciousness
Preconscious
- Not currently in awareness, but readily
available
Unconscious
- Unavailable to awareness under most
circumstances
Repression
- Allows one to avoid feelings of anxiety,
guilt, or shame
Non- Freud’s Take on Consciousness
Unconscious
- Suppression: Conscious ejection of
unwanted mental events from awareness
Nonconscious
- Bodily processes that cannot be
experienced through sensory awareness
- Continuous development of sense of self
- Waking state
Variations in Conscious Experience
- Sleep/Wake Cycle
- Automatic task: driving, walking, and
catching a baseball
- Controlled processing: Helps us perform
in complex or novel situations
Extreme States
- Conditions of impaired consciousness
provide useful points of contrast to
“normal” (fully-functioning)
consciousness
- Persistent vegetative
state
- Full coma that lasts
more than a month
 Terri Schiavo
 - Minimally
conscious state
- Deliberate
movement and
communication
are possible
 Jan Grzebski

Brain Activity Gives Rise to Consciousnes

- Psychologists can examine and measure

consciousness (e.g., fMRI)
- Consciousness arises from brain circuits’
activity

The Global Workplace Model

- In some cases, brain-injured patients are

unaware of their deficits (“hemineglect”)
- Consciousness arises through brain
processes that are active at any point in
time
- No single area of the brain responsible for
general “awareness”
 - Even conscious thinking can undermine
good decision-making (Wilson &
Schooler, 1991)

What is Sleep?

- Sleep is biologically regulated

- Circadian rhythms
- Melatonin secretion linked to light-dark
cycles
- Some adults report needing 7-9 hours a
night
- 70-year-old “Miss M.” gets by on one hour
The Interpreter Speculates per night!

- The left hemisphere tries to make sense of

the world(e.g., imposing narrative
structure, seeking patterns)
- The right hemisphere simply
experiencesthe world
- Brain hemispheres work together to
construct our experience of the world

Unconscious Processing Influences Behavior

- We are aware of some mental processes

Sleep is an Altered State of Consciousness
and unaware of others
- Subliminal perception:Processing - Sleep: Awareness of the outside world is
information by sensory systems without turned off (mostly)
conscious awareness - So why don’t we fall out of bed?
- Freudian slip:An unconscious thought - EEG: The brain is active in sleep
expressed at an inappropriate moment
- Stereotype activation: Is it automatic? Stages of Sleep
 Bargh et al. (1996) found research
- Sleep is not an
participants primed with
“on-off” event
stereotypes about the elderly
- Sleep stages
unconsciously behaved in ways
- Historically: 5
consistent with those stereotype
distinct
The Smart Unconscious stages
- Currently:
- Good advice: “You’d better sleep on it.” Stages 3 & 4
- Unconscious processing of problems can are now
lead to superior solutions (Dijksterhuis, joined
2004)

REM Sleep
- The sleep cycle reverses after about 90
minutes
- Enter REM (paradoxical) stage
- Most dreaming occurs in REM sleep
- Amount of time spent in REM increases
- Cycle through this pattern around 5 times
per night
Sleep Disorders
- Insomnia:Difficulty falling or staying
asleep
- Obstructive Sleep Apnea: Breathing
may stop hundreds of times per night
- Narcolepsy: Sufferers unexpectedly fall
asleep
- REM Behavior Disorder:Sufferers act
out their dreams
- Somnambulism: Sleep walking
Sleep is an Adaptive Behavior
- Sleep serves important biological
purposes:
 Restoration
 Circadian rhythms
 Facilitation of learning
Restoration and Sleep Deprivation
- Restorative Theory: Sleep allows the
body to rest and repair itself
- The evidence:
 Sleep increases after strenuous
physical activity
 Growth hormones secreted in
sleep
 Replenishes the brain’s energy
stores
 Strengthens the immune system
- Effects of sleep deprivation:
 Mood problems (e.g., irritability)
 Decrements in cognitive
performance (e.g., attention and
short-term memory lapses)
 May compromise the immune
system
 Falling asleep for a few seconds to
a minute (microsleeps) can
impair ability to perform critical
tasks (e.g., driving)
Circadian Rhythms
- Circadian rhythm theory:
 Many creatures are quiet and
inactive during the night because
darkness is the time when danger
is highest
 Reduced risk of exposure to
predators
- Humans:Are adapted to sleep at night
because our early ancestors were more at
risk in the dark
Facilitation of Learning
- Sleep:Strengthens neural connections
needed for learning to occur
- Research shows memory in participants
who slept was greater than those who
didn’t (Drosopoulos, Schulze, Fischer, &
Born, 2007)
- REM and slow-wave (stages 3 & 4)
important for learning to take place
- Participants who completed a complex
task and later dreamed about it
subsequently performed better on the
task than non-dreaming participants
 (Wamsley, Tucker, Payne, Benavides, &
Stickgold, 20 0 )
- Students spend more time in REM during
exam periods
People dream while sleeping
- Dreams: Products of an altered state of
consciousness in which images and
fantasies are confused with reality
REM and Non-REM Dreams
REM dreams: More likely to be bizarre and
include intense emotions, visual and auditory
hallucinations, and uncritical acceptance of
illogical events
Non-REM dreams: Relatively dull (e.g., what
sweater should I wear?)
Explanation:
 Non-REM: General de-activation of many
brain regions
 REM: Brain structures associated with
motivation, emotion, reward, vision are
active; pre-frontal cortex is not
What do dreams mean?
- Freud: Dreams contain hidden content
that represents unconscious conflicts
 Manifest content: The plot of a
dream; the way the dream is
remembered
 Latent content: What a dream
symbolizes; the material that is
disguised in a dream to protect the
dreams from confronting direct
reality
- No scientific evidence that dreams
represent hidden conflicts or for the
special symbolic meaning of dream
images
Activation Synthesis Theory
The theory:
- The brain tries to make sense of random
brain activity that occurs during sleep by
synthesizing the activity with stored
memories (Hobson et al., 2000)
- Emotion centers (limbic system) in the
brain are active, which explains the
intense emotions; frontal cortices are not
active, which explains the uncritical
acceptance of illogical events
The critics:
- Dreams are not as chaotic as the
activation-synthesis theory suggests
(Domhoff, 2003)
- Often similar to“everyday life” waking
experience
Evolved Threat-Rehearsal Theory
- Thought question: Why do people often
dream about threatening events?
- Answer: Perhaps dreams help us prepare
to cope with real waking events.
- Dreams sometimes simulate threatening
events so that people can rehearse
strategies for coping (Revonsuo, 2000)
- Dreams may have adaptive value if
rehearsal helps us survive and reproduce
What is Altered Consciousness?
- Awareness varies naturally over the
course of the day
 - Potentially altered by: hypnosis,
meditation, and immersion in an
action(i.e., flow)
Hypnosis Is Induced through Suggestion
- Hypnosis:A social interaction during
which a person, responding to
suggestions, experiences changes in
memory, perception, and/or voluntary
action
- Induction:Hypnotist makes a series of
suggestions
 “You are becoming sleepy. Your
eyelids are drooping”
- If all goes well, the subject(s) behave in
ways consistent with suggestions
- Hypnosis works primarily for people who
are highly suggestible (1 in 5 persons)
Theories of Hypnosis
- Sociocognitive Theory: Hypnotized
subjects are role-playing (i.e., acting how
they believe hypnotized subjects are
supposed to act)
- Dissociation Theory: Hypnosis is a
“trance-like”state where conscious
awareness is separated from other
aspects of consciousness
 Strongest evidence for
dissociation theory: Numerous
studies show the analgesic effects
of hypnotic analgesia
Hypnosis for Pain
- Hypnotic analgesia: Clinical evidence
shows hypnosis can be used to treat
immediate (e.g., surgery, burns) and
chronic (e.g., arthritis, cancer) pain
(Patterson & Jensen, 2003)
- Self-hypnosis: Also be shown to be
effective in improving recovery from
surgery
- Clinical evidence:Hypnosis doesn’t
reduce the sensation of pain, but rather
alters our interpretation(i.e., perception)
of it
Meditation produces Relaxation
- Meditation: A mental procedure that
focuses attention on an external object or
on a sense of awareness
Effects of meditation:
- One study found greater stress reduction
and attention among participants who
meditated compared to a group that
underwent relaxation training (Tang et
al., 2007)
- Another study showed that when
participants were made to feel sad, those
who received meditation training were
less sad than those who had not (Farb et
al., 2010)
People Can Lose Themselves in Activities
- We are unaware of most of what we think
and do...
- There are activities in which we can “lose
ourselves” and enter an altered state
Exercise, Religious Prayer, and Flow
- Runner’s high:Involves a shift in
consciousness away from the self
(endorphins too) accompanied by
euphoria
- Religious ecstasy: Directs attention
away from the self and toward spiritual
awareness
- “Flow”: Total engagement in an act for its
own sake (not focused on reward or on
escaping one’s problems)
Escaping the Self
- Escapist behaviors include: drug and
alcohol use, excessive television viewing,
 surfing the Web, texting, playing of video
games (e.g., World of Warcraft)
- Purpose of escapist behavior: Distracts
people from their problems; helps them
avoid feeling bad about themselves
- Escapist behavior reduces self-awareness,
which can lead to:
 Lowered long-term planning (e.g.,
poor foresight)
 Reduced meaningful thought (e.g.,
less effective at anticipating
consequences of one’s actions)
 Lowered inhibitions
How do drugs affect consciousness?
- Drugs have been used throughout history
to create altered states
- Around 250 million people use illicit
drugs each year (United Nations Office on
Drugs and Crime, 2009)
- Other widely-used drugs include alcohol,
prescription medications, caffeine and
nicotine
- Drugs are a mixed blessing
People Use—and Abuse—Many Psychoactive
Drug
- Drugs are useful in the treatment of many
medical conditions, but recreational
drug use can have negative
consequences
- Psychoactive drugs: Mind altering
substances that change the brain’s
neurochemistry (marijuana, cocaine,
amphetamines, MDMA, opiates)
- Drug effects: The effects of a particular
drug depends on which neurotransmitter
system it activates (e.g.,
methamphetamineacts on the
dopaminesystem)
Marijuana
- Most widely used illicit drug
- Not easily categorized as a stimulant,
depressant, or hallucinogen
- Produces a relaxed, contented mood,
more vivid perceptions
- Experienced users appreciate the effects
more than novices (Kuhn, Swartzwelder,
& Wilson, 2003)
- Psychoactive ingredient: THC
- Operates at cannabanoid receptors
- Medical use is controversial
Cocaine
- Long history of use in the United States
(Coca-Cola)
- Stimulant
- Users experience increased alertness,
increased confidence and sociability
- Increases dopamine levels at synapses
- Habitual use of cocaine in large quantities
can lead to paranoia, psychotic behavior,
and violence (Ottieger, Tressell, Inciardi,
& Rosales, 1992
Amphetamine
- Long history of use
for weight loss,
staying awake
- Seldom used for
legitimate medical
purposes
-
Methamphetamine: World’s second most
commonly usedillicit drug
- Increases dopamine production; blocks
reuptake
- Damages brain structures responsible for
cognition, memory and emotion (Kim et
al., 2006; Thompson et al., 2004)
- Causes considerable physical damage
MDMA
- “Ecstasy” has
gained in
popularity since
the “raves” of
the 1990s
- High school
students’ use
increased from 3.7% to 4.7% between
2009 and 2010 (National Institute of Drug
Abuse, 2010)
 - Users feel energized and may hallucinate
- Lowers dopamine; increases/depletes
serotonin availability
- May produce depression, memory loss,
difficulty in completing complex tasks
(Fischer et al., 1995; Kalechstein et al.,
2007)
Opiates
- Used historically to relieve severe pain
- Depressant
- Heroin, morphine, codeine
- Users experience analgesia, relaxation,
euphoria
- Highly addictive due to effects at opiate
receptors (pleasure) and dopamine
receptors (increased wanting of the drug)
- Long-term use can lead to attention and
memory problems (Gruber, Silveri, &
Yurgelun-Todd, 2007)
Alcohol Is the Most Widely Abused Drug
- On the one hand: Moderate drinking is an
accepted aspect of social interaction
- On the other hand: Alcohol is a major
contributor to many social ills...
 Spousal abuse
 Traffic fatalities
 Unsafe sex
 Loss of productivity at work
Gender Differences in Alcohol Consumption
across Culture
- According to the World Health
Organization, when compared to women,
men are twice as likely to report:
 Binge drinking
 Chronic drinking
 Recent alcohol intoxication
- What accounts for observed gender
differences?
 Women metabolize alcohol slower
than men and can get the same
effects while consuming less
 Women’s drinking may be hidden/
unreported
Expectations
- Many people drink because they believe
alcohol will have a positive effect on their
emotions and behavior:
 Improve social skills
 Enhance sexual pleasure
 Boost confidence and power
- Evidence for the power of learned
beliefs: Research participants who
believed that they had drank alcohol
acted in ways consistent with people who
actually consumed it (Hull & Bond, 1986)
Addiction Has Physical and Psychological
Aspects
- Addiction:Drug use that remains
compulsive despite its negative
consequences
- Physical dependence involves:
 Tolerance: Increasing amounts of
a drug is needed to achieve the
intended effect
 Withdrawal: Physiological and
psychological state characterized
by feelings of anxiety, tension, and
cravings for the addictive
substance
- Psychological dependence involves:
Drug cravings without tolerance or
withdrawal
Addiction’s causes
Why do people become addicted?
- Physiological:
 Activation of brain
dopaminesystems that play a role
in the pleasurable experience
drugs create and regions (the
insula) that govern cravings
 Heredity may play a role (e.g.,
alcoholism)
- Psychological:
 The “sensation-
seeking”
personality
trait
  Social learning (e.g., “modeling” of
drug use by significant others)

Addiction’s context

- We cannot ignore the effects of social and

environment context when explaining
addiction
- Robins, Helzer and Davis (1975)
conducted a large-scale study of 898 U.S.
soldiers during Vietnam War
- The researchers found widespread drug
use (over 90%) among U.S. soldiers
- 1 in 5 returned to the United States
addicted to drugs
- Once home, approximately 95% of the
addicts quit using drugs
- Removed from the stress of combat, they
no longer needed drugs to escape