Read Chapter 6.
What really is consciousness? How do all these different topics that are in this consciousness come together to form an all encompassing understanding of consciousness? How has your understanding of consciousness changed since reading this chapter?
From your reading, which topic(s) are most interesting to you?
What was the most surprising or memorable thing you learned about in this reading?
Provide a list of psychological terms that you used in your comment at the bottom of your post.
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http://pinker.wjh.harvard.edu/articles/media/2007%20The%20Mystery%20of%20Consciousness%20TIME.htm
Consciousness in this chapter is defined as “our immediate awareness of our internal and external states.” So, in the most basic sense, consciousness is how much attention we’re giving to any given activity at any given time; consciousness levels are not consistent, they very throughout the day. Consciousness is not just one narrowly defined idea, either. It is directly linked with unconsciousness and preconsciousness, both of which relate to consciousness, but are very different things. An unconscious state is when information in the brain is not easily accessible to conscious awareness. It is essentially the exact opposite of consciousness, because it is when the mind is least aware of its surroundings and is least susceptible to stimuli. Preconsciousness is another level of the spectrum of consciousness, and it is not at the front of the mind, but it is a level at which information is readily available if necessary. All of these ideas flow together nicely in this chapter, and they all connect. My idea of consciousness has changed a lot. I wasn’t aware of preconsciousness at all, and my knowledge of unconsciousness was limited at best, so I’m glad to have learned more about both.
The topic most interesting to me was actually a very small section within the chapter regarding the effects of a lack of sleep. This was interesting to me because I have always been really strict about how much sleep I get, a skill learned and enforced from my mom. This is mainly because whenever I get less than eight hours of sleep (even if I only get seven) I am almost certainly going to be in a really cranky, touchy, all around bad mood all day, as opposed to my usually sunny disposition. If I get less sleep even than that, I end up getting really sick. So I felt really validated during the sleep section when I found out that that is a regular occurrence for humans; when they begin to get sleep deprived, their immune systems fail to function properly, causing them to catch colds and get sick more easily.
The most surprising or memorable thing for me was the idea that hypnosis is real. I guess for my whole life I had assumed it was like a magic show and everyone being hypnotized was in on it, and simply playacting. And while the textbook does mention that it is not entirely proven, I liked that it was also discussed as an actual possibility, with theories as to how it works, even. There are of course, skeptics, as with every field, but I liked the idea that someone could actually influence the mind in that way, and that people could benefit from it, as with pain relief and malady relief. I also appreciated the idea that there were two separate parts of the brain in a theory regarding the way hypnosis works, so that it is clear that only part of the brain is being influenced, and the other is just ‘observing.’ It is a clear, simple explanation.
consciousness
awareness
internal and external states
unconsciousness
preconsciousness
stimuli
disposition
sleep deprived
immune systems
hypnosis
theories
This chapter really helped me see that consciousness is far more complicated than I had ever thought! The definition of consciousness found in the book is “our immediate awareness of our internal and external states.” This is always what I had thought of as consciousness. However, the book also points out that we aren’t always equally conscious of things at the same time. There are actually two levels of consciousness: preconsciousness and unconsciousness. Preconsciouness is the level of awareness that we can call information from and the unconscious state is a state in which we can’t access the information. These two levels make up all of our consciousness and affect what we pay attention to and can recall. Something that the book pointed out about consciousness included how important attention is in conscious awareness. I had never thought about it, but to be conscious of something, you have to be aware that you’re conscious of it. It had never occurred to me that I must be conscious of being conscious of something to be able to think about it. That really surprised me and it’s also very confusing to think about!
One of the most interesting things about this chapter, in my opinion was the section on stages of sleep. This section was very interesting to me because I found it to be extremely relatable. Part of this could be because I am usually very good about getting the recommended amount of sleep so as far as my sleep cycle goes, it is probably pretty “standard” and I go through these stages as I should. I read that during the hypnagogic state, we might experience hypnagogic hallucinations like hearing loud noises, talking, or even falling even though it doesn’t really happen. I have all of these things happen to me quite regularly, especially the sense of falling which is a myoclonic jerk. I have also experienced the strange and nonsensical thoughts that happen in stage one of the sleep cycle. I thought that this part of the chapter was really interesting because I finally have names and explanations for the sensations that I feel when I am falling asleep at night.
One of the most surprising things I learned from this chapter was also extremely relatable to me. In the part about the unconscious state, the book mentioned that some people begin crying at particular points in movies or books and they have no idea why. This happens to me all the time when I am watching television or a movie or even reading. There was even one time that my roommate walked in on me sobbing at the Extra Gum commercial. I couldn’t explain why it made me so emotional, but it was definitely generating strong emotions. According to Freud, this could be because it triggered a memory in my unconscious. Although I am a little disappointed that I have no way to access this apparent memory, I thought it was interesting that there could be a reasonable cause for my response to a simple commercial.
Vocabulary: consciousness, preconsciousness, unconscious stage, hypnagogic state, hypnagogic hallucination, myoclonic jerk
Consciousness is ‘our immediate awareness of our internal and external state’ as stated in the textbook. So consciousness is how much attention we give an activity, whether it would be
studying or paying attention in class, our conscious levels are never really consistent at all times throughout the day. Our unconscious state is when information to the brain is not easily accessible to conscious awareness. My idea of consciousness has not changed too much after reading this chapter.
I did know about preconsciousness before now, but what the book talked about gave more input to conscious awareness in the unconscious state. Knowing that there are only two levels of consciousness is interesting I almost would think that we should have more or have it branch into something else, but the two levels make up all of our consciousness and make up how we pay attention and recall information.
The most interesting parts of the chapter for me is the sleep disorders and what they can affect. This was interesting to me because I have family members as well as friends that have insomnia. Though something that I found interesting was that the chapter does not talk about sleep apnea. It is a disorder that occurs when a person is sleeping so why would it not be put in this chapter? Sleep apnea is a sleep disorder that occurs when a person’s breathing is interrupted during sleep. People who let this go untreated can stop breathing repeatedly during their sleep, sometimes hundreds of times. Meaning the brain and the rest of the body is being cut off from the oxygen that they need. There are two types of sleep apnea: Obstructive sleep apnea and Central sleep apnea.
But I did like reading about the different stages of sleep. Though it was not very relatable to these stages. I do not recall ever reacting to any sort of loud noises, talking, or falling during my hypnagogic state. I just happen to be a restless sleeper and wake up quite frequently.
Though I have felt like all of my thoughts were running around in my head and would not stop before falling asleep more than once. It is nice to put names to these feelings from when I go to sleep at night now though. I did not actually realize that as part of the unconscious state, when people are crying at the movies or in books and do not understand why. I have had this happen to me but I always know why I am crying, it is always because I have reached a sad part in the movie or book and I always realize when I am doing it. It is just like when a person goes to the symphony and they start to cry because the sound is so beautiful. My point being that it may be unconscious but I always know when I am going to start crying and why. I was just raised to recognize my emotions and notice why it is happening.
Vocabulary: consciousness, preconsciousness, unconscious state, insomnia, hypnagogic state.
The term consciousness was the overarching theme in Chapter Six. At the very beginning of the chapter the author states consciousness as, “our immediate awareness of our internal and external states.” The chapter than continues on into what this definition really entails. Consciousness contains attention, monitoring, remembering and planning. These four components make up our thoughts as we take in the things around us and act accordingly. To me, consciousness is the idea of being aware of our surroundings, monitoring our surroundings, remembering past events that help us explain what is going on around us, and planning what to do with this information. We use these four things constantly. There are also levels of consciousness which was further explained in the chapter as well. These levels include preconsciousness and unconsciousness. Preconsciousness is the level of awareness where information can become available to a conscious state if necessary. An example of this is when people state that the information is, “right on the tip of their tongue.” Unconsciousness is the state where information is not readily available to be in a conscious state. Examples of this include when people express certain emotions and they do not have an explanation. Overall than, consciousness is the piecing together of our thoughts as we take in what is happening around us at different levels of awareness.
My idea of consciousness given the explanation above has changed drastically after reading this chapter. Before reading this chapter I just assumed consciousness was being awake. I see now that there is so much more to consciousness than meets the eye. The idea of preconsciousness was very new to me along with the idea that consciousness was the combination of attention, monitoring, remembering and planning. Overall, this chapter was very interesting and helped me to gain a better understanding of what this concept of consciousness really is.
The topic that interested me the most was the idea of sleep cycles. I had heard of dreaming before and of deep sleep but I had no idea the amount of things that change and occur in my brain while I am asleep. The first stage of sleep was definitely the most memorable thing I learned about because I could really relate it to my personal life. There have been many times in which I have felt like I was falling right before I fall asleep and then my leg or legs suddenly jerk and for a split second I wake up to catch myself. After reading the chapter, I now know that this is called hypnogogic hallucinating and when my leg or legs jerk it is called a myoclonic jerk. Before reading this chapter, I just thought I had been dreaming or something and just laid back down and fell asleep again. Along with this sleep cycle, the Rapid Eye Movement cycle was also of great interest to me. This topic was most interesting to me because I had heard dreaming called REM sleep before but I never knew why it was called that. The idea that my brain was acting just has if I was awake in this stage of sleep was very fascinating. As I read this section I found myself awestruck by the fact that every 30 seconds as a person sleeps in this stage their eyes rapidly dart around behind their eyelids. This section on the different stages of sleep was incredibly informative and was the most memorable and interesting to me.
Vocabulary: consciousness, preconsciousness, unconsciousness, dreaming, deep sleep, hypnogogic hallucinating, myoclonic jerk, Rapid Eye Movement (REM) cycle
Consciousness is the awareness of your surroundings and the way they are processed. There are so many different aspects of consciousness, not just the states of being awake or asleep as many people assume. This chapter brought to light many things that I never really categorized in my mind as consciousness, such as dissociation, drug use and addiction.
I was intrigued by many topics in this chapter. The first one was the section on snap decisions. I recall vividly the moment I decided to join my fraternity. It was after marching band rehearsal one night last year when our director announced that there would be open meetings for Kappa Kappa Psi and Tau Beta Sigma, the band fraternity and sorority respectively. I had not intended on joining either one, but in that split second, I decided to go to the Kappa meeting. Now, I am historian of the chapter and have met some of my best friends through the organization. It was a great example of going with a gut feeling on an important decision. This was also a big deal for me because I’m usually so indecisive, especially when it comes to things like joining new activities.
I was fascinated by the section on hypnosis. I have seen many examples of it, most notably several times at my high school afterproms, and I’ve always been interested in how it works. I’ve always wanted to experience it for myself, but my desire to watch my friends do silly things outweighed my desire to do them myself. I have, however, discovered a series of self-help apps (there’s a huge variety – lose weight, quit smoking, etc.) on the app store that are a way to somewhat self-hypnotize. I use the free Relax app and one called Deep Sleep when I’m having one of those restless nights where I just can’t turn off my brain. It’s basically just a recording in which a hypnotist named Andrew Johnson talks you through the relaxation process and gives you suggestions as you sleep or simply relax and listen. I don’t know if it’s similar to the experience of a live hypnotist, but I know that I always wake up feeling very refreshed.
I want to know more about memory and how/why our brains store less information as we repeat tasks. This is something I think about a lot, especially in respect to travelling. I live in Norwalk, which is a long-ish but very simple drive away. To get home, I simply follow Highway 20 until I hit I-35, and then take I-35 pretty much all the way to Norwalk. This provides me with a lot of time to get in that “driving zone” and think about a lot of stuff (or jam out) while still paying attention to the road. It often freaks me out, however, when I come upon a familiar landmark, because it seems like I should not have reached that yet. In reality, I know my brain just deleted most of the information from the monotonous drive because I have done it so many times, but it still weirds me out.
Terms: hypnosis, dissociation, addiction
I found this chapter to be exceedingly more interesting than the previous ones. I thought there were many more facts that caught my attention and quite frankly, just appalled me. To begin, the chapter discussed what consciousness was and how it affects our lives every day. Consciousness, as defined by our textbook, is "our immediate awareness of our internal and external states", meaning that we are aware of being aware. Just as there are varying levels, categories, and subsets of groups in the chapters before, consciousness has different subgroups as well. Preconsciousness is defined as "our level of awareness in which information can become readily available to consciousness" if necessary. For example, the phrase, "it's right on the tip of my tongue", pertains to information not currently available to consciousness. The point at which a person finally remembers whatever was on their tongue, is when they have reached consciousness. There is also unconsciousness which is information that is not easily accessible to conscious awareness. An example of this is when people begin crying for no apparent reason at a movie. They are unaware of why the scene causes such great emotion. A theory of why this occurs is that our mind has repressed memories that were once painful for us.
Another topic I found pretty interesting was hypnosis. I have heard about it and seen some performances in the past, however I had no idea that it encompassed so much more than the surface level knowledge I knew about it. Through this textbook I found out that hypnosis can be used to control pain. The stimuli is still received and impulses are still sent to the brain via transduction but the person simply has no perception of pain. Hypnosis, I learned, has also been successfully used to help treat problems such as anxiety, skin diseases, asthma, insomnia, stuttering, high blood pressure, warts, and other forms of infection. As someone who suffers from a number of these things, it seems so strange that they could simply be treated by hypnosis. I find myself quite skeptical of hypnosis, but I have never had the opportunity to try it out so I guess I can only assume that it may work for some.
Like I mentioned earlier in my post, there were numerous facts that astonished and surprised me. One example of this is the invention of the light bulb and how it has impacted our circadian rhythm. I never thought about how false light could cause us to have longer periods of when we are awake and shorter periods of when we are at rest. I did not realize it played a role because clearly we can turn those lights off. I also was surprised to read that sleep deprivation prevents the addition of new neurons. I am very disheartened to find that information out because I am an extremely sleep deprived individual. Lastly, the facts about drug abuse made my jaw drop. A few that I notably picked out were that 7% of people over the age of 11 are heavy drinkers, 14% of elementary students admit to some use of alcohol (what?!), and almost 1/3 of all individuals in the United States over 12 years regularly smoke tobacco (I can't even...).
Vocabulary Terms: consciousness, preconsciousness, unconsciousness, stimuli, impulses, transduction, hypnosis, perception, circadian rhythm, sleep deprivation
Going into reading this chapter, I was already under the presupposition that this was going to be a complicated topic. Explaining consciousness vs. unconsciousness and how the brain works in these states seems like a very complex and difficult task. Needless to say, I assumed correctly. While consciousness can be defined as “our immediate awareness of our internal and external states,” there is so much that plays into what it means to really be “conscious.” This idea of being conscious requires you to pay attention, to be aware; conscious awareness even involves aspects being simply attention, such as monitoring, remembering, and planning. All of these ideas work together to give us a bigger picture of consciousness. For example, in order to be conscious that we are driving a car, we must pay attention to the road, our surroundings, and the car itself. Even more so, we must be aware that we are attending to all the elements that are required to drive a car. This also involves monitoring, remembering and planning. We monitor the road to watch for other cars and pedestrians, we remember what we learned in drivers ed about how to use a turn signal and change lanes, and we plan our route on how to get to a certain destination. All of these elements together contribute to our consciousness. Like I mentioned before, I knew that explaining consciousness was going to be complicated, and that was true, but my understanding for it has greatly increased. Along with knowing what it means to be conscious I also have a greater understanding of what happens in the brain that contribute to our consciousness. The example of how consciousness was affected in split brain patients really strengthened my understanding of how the brain works, and what happens when things go wrong. It was especially intriguing to learn that since the different hemispheres are responsible for different senses, such as sight and touch, the same stimuli can present itself in different forms simply because that hemisphere of the brain that it is being presented to can only interpret it in one way. Another very important part to consciousness is preconsciousness and unconsciousness. These help explain the opposite side to consciousness and how readily information we have stored can be available. Also, the idea that we can possibly repress unwanted or painful memories is interesting, because even though they are not readily available, they may still influence our conscious decisions and daily lives.
The most interesting topic in this chapter was the explanation of the various patterns and stages of sleep. Over the years, I’ve heard of and learned a little bit about REM sleep, and was aware that there are other stages of sleep as well. However, I only knew those basics. It was really neat to learn more in depth what sleep is really like and what all it entails. First of all, it was news to me that we go through several sleep cycles a night, each consisting of five different stages. I thought we went through several stages a night, but each only once. It was also fun to learn of the five stages we go through and connect them to my own experiences. For example, in the hypnogogic stage, where the sensation of falling is produced as a hypnagogic hallucination, I could remember countless times where I have experienced this and woken in a jolt as a result.
The most surprising thing I learned in this chapter was that hypnosis is actually a real thing. I have seen many hypnotist shows and have always thought that it was some sort of trick, or questioned its usefulness in a more serious setting. However, I now understand that hypnosis is a true altered state of consciousness and can be utilized in medical settings to help patients with addiction, pain control, as well as other things.
Terms: Consciousness, unconscious, monitoring, remembering, planning, attention, aware, preconsciousness, REM sleep, hypnogogic stage, hypnosis
Consciousness is how we react to outside stimulus. Consciousness determines our reactions and our responses to everything around us. All of the different topics in this chapter come together to show that we are always conscious, perhaps at different levels, but conscious nonetheless. When we are awake, we are fully conscious of the task we are focusing our energy on. We are also conscious of other things around us at a lesser level; enough to notice when something isn’t right and needs to be fixed, like temperature, certain smells, and alerting sounds.
My understanding of consciousness has changed greatly after reading this chapter. Before reading this chapter, I did not know anything about consciousness except for it is “who we are.” I enjoyed reading and learning about some of the details dealing with consciousness.
The most interesting thing in this chapter to me was the section about dreams. It was interesting to read about the theories about why we dream. When I first heard about the idea of Information-processing theory of dreaming, I then tried to analyze my dreams in a rudimentary way – most likely incorrectly - but I enjoyed trying to figure out my “brain puzzle.” I also was interested in the circadian rhythm and other sleep patterns. I used an app on my phone once that tracked how much sleep I got, my movement during sleep, and if I made sounds when I was sleeping. It was interesting to see the graph of my movements that seemed to be rhythmic – happening at about the same time periods. If I remember correctly, my movement graph and my noise graph seemed to correlate with each other. I was also intrigued about lucid dreaming. I have never personally had any experience with it, but some friends of mine have and they have some very intriguing stories.
The most surprising thing to me was the section on hypnosis and meditation. I had never given hypnosis or meditation that much scientific thought and it was interesting to read about them in a very scientific way. My mother has recently gotten into meditation and every time she talks about it, it does not sound like she is actually doing something beneficial, but after this reading I can understand better what she is talking about. This section also intrigued me enough to attempt to try meditation. I’m not very good at it, but I did notice that my heart rate slowly lowered after some time.
Consciousness
Information-processing theory
Circadian rhythm
Lucid dreaming
Hypnosis
Meditation
Consciousness is our awareness of both our surroundings and internal conditions. I found that the idea of consciousness to be very complex and interesting. This chapter made me realize that consciousness can be applied to more than just one area. For example most people would know that sleep and hypnosis had to do something with the control of consciousness but not many, including myself would think of consciousness having to do with psychoactive drugs. It wasn’t until after reading this chapter is that realized there different levels of consciousness like preconscious or unconsciousness. Preconscious is an automatic behavior or a level of awareness that can become consciousness. Unconsciousness is a “state in which information is not easily accessible to conscious awareness”. This chapter definitely expanded my knowledge of consciousness. Prior to this chapter the only thing I knew about consciousness is what it was in basic terms, I didn’t know how it related to all of the areas covered in this chapter.
One thing that interested me was the section about hypnosis because the process is much more complicated than I thought it was. One thing that I learned is that some people are unable to be hypnotized and those that can be, have to be willing to be hypnotized so else it won’t work. Also I discovered than animals can be hypnotized but in a different way than humans are. I still don’t know what one would do with a hypnotized chicken but nonetheless the idea of being able to hypnotize a chicken is impressive. Another thing that I found fascinating is the split-brain research. It is believed that the cerebral cortex is the center for conscious awareness. In these studies, a person with split-brain was shown a picture that they could not see put when asked to pick up the object they were shown, did so correctly.
Some of the topics that were most memorable to me were the study conducted by the marketing professor and the concept of Freudian slips. The study to me was relatable because I tend to do the same thing; I reach for junk food whenever I find myself stressed which is almost all the time. Most of the times I know that this isn’t the best way to cope with stress, but then again who has time to worry about nutrition. The concept of Freudian slips is intriguing mostly because it is funny but also because we don’t realize that we do it until it’s said out loud. I have heard of this concept before and since then I have noticed it most often than not.
Vocabulary: Consciousness, preconscious, unconscious, hypnosis, cerebral cortex
Conscious is a state of awareness and attention that is ever changing. I like the complexity of how the book compares it to a stream that is constantly moving but seems to remain the same. This fits consciousness very well, because the awareness and attention required in consciousness is constantly changing and moving to different places, but our reality of what’s going on around us seems to remain generally the same. For an object or subject to be within our immediate consciousness it must be at the present time, in a state of being monitored, evaluated, and planned on. This fits well in problem solving. We know that when we try to solve a problem, it is in our immediate conscious, as we are monitoring it and trying to find context from what we know to try to find a solution. After that we also at the same time make scenarios of how a solution would play out before acting on the solution. This is all in a nutshell consciousness, and this can happen within a split second, or within a long period of time brainstorming what to do. This complex concept also has a flip side which is the preconscious and the unconscious. The preconscious stores readily available information that we can pull out when we need while the unconscious stores not easily accessible data and memory. I never knew how the conscious worked biologically and it’s always been a mystery to me as to how consciousness works. I have found new meaning in this chapter biologically with how it works now knowing that the cerebral cortex and the thalamus have huge roles emulating consciousness. I also now view conscious more as a state of being now that I have reading the chapter, where I used to think of it more as a specific part of the brain and thought processes in general.
One of the most interesting topics that we were looking into while reading this chapter for me was hypnosis. I always knew the entertainment side of hypnosis but never really thought about the clinical and health side of hypnosis. I never knew that it was shown to have actually helped people overcome bad habits, relieve anxiety, and quit smoking and addiction habits. I also find it fascinating how it hypnosis works and how we may enter a whole new state of consciousness through it. There is of course a lot we don’t know about it but I find it interesting how much positive influences can come out of it. I’ve always been sceptical of hypnosis myself, but I do agree that there is probably some truth behind the event of hypnosis and hypnotic states of mind.
The most surprising thing I learned about was the study with the split-brain patients who could not see, but were aware of their surroundings. I thought that we fascinating that even though their right and left hemispheres could not communicate, they were still able to sense the objects around them and be aware of them, even though they were not in their immediate field of vision. This shows how consciousness is so much more than what we just see but also what we experience in the world around us through all senses.
Terms -
hypnosis
right/left hemisphere
consciousness
split-brain patients
addiction
thalamus
cerebral cortex
conscious
preconscious
unconscious
context
attention
awareness
monitoring
Consciousness is our awareness of the world around us and our bodies. I never thought of consciousness as anything other than being either awake or asleep. Consciousness is a difficult concept because of its obscurity. Researchers can’t quantify consciousness. There is no way to put what someone experiences in meditation into numbers. While you can measure brain activity and eye movement, you can’t measure what thought going through someone’s mind or being seen in a dream. The unconscious abilities of your brain is just as much of a part consciousness. It was surprising to learn that your brain can hold and access information without you even knowing about it and that information can change your behavior and perception. You are able to focus on tasks at hand consciously and recall vital information to those tasks unconsciously. Pretty amazing stuff!
Dreaming is a fascinating subject to me. It can only occur during certain times of sleep and involves vivid creations of your own consciousness. They can be eerily realistic or wildly fantasy filled. The similar stories from people who have experienced similar dreams add an element of mystery that makes one wonder about connections or similarities between different people’s consciousness. Some dreams can be controlled others seem to hold us hostage and take us along for the ride. Some are forgotten almost instantly and others are burned into our memories. Our brains can take over our entire body and make us feel, taste, hear, see and smell all kinds of things that aren’t there. It’s crazy to think of the power of our brains that is displayed by dreaming.
Consciousness, awareness, obscurity, meditation, brain activity, unconscious, perception, recall,
The book defines consciousness as “our immediate awareness of our internal and external states.” Consciousness is being aware of our bodies, our actions, and our thoughts and feelings, and paying attention to what you are thinking, feeling, and doing. Consciousness inspires us to react to those things that we pay attention to.
Consciousness is made up of three main parts. The brain remembers skills and facts acquired previously, in order to respond to what it is aware of. It monitors what to be aware of and respond to. The brain also controls and plans, and in order to do that it has to be conscious of what hasn’t yet occurred.
Many brain processes occur and structures function at the same time to create consciousness. Neurons are constantly communicating in order for the brain to monitor, remember, and plan. The cerebral cortex also plays a huge role in consciousness. The left side of the cerebral cortex is aware of stimuli, and the right side prompts the body to attend to stimuli in the necessary way. The thalamus contains midline and intralaminar nuclei that are responsible for a huge part of conscious awareness.
A major part of consciousness is having a sense of self. This is usually developed in babies around 18 months. Researchers attribute this to being the time period when babies start to develop their cognitive and language skills, so they actually start to have thoughts.
Not all consciousness is evident to us. Preconsciousness is what happens when you have something “on the tip of your tongue.” It is information that we can be made aware of if necessary. This type of information is also used for our more automatic behaviors- behaviors we don’t even have to think through doing.
We have some information stored in our brains that we aren’t even aware of at all. This is our unconscious state, which contains information that can’t be readily recalled. Freud theorized that this is where the vast majority of our personal information is stored. Most people try to put painful memories here, but this can cause many psychological disorders. Sometimes, this information can unwillingly come up and slip out in normal conversations. This also includes our implicit memory, information we have stored but we aren’t aware of.
The most interesting part of this chapter for me was the section on hypnosis. I’ve always wondered how it worked. The book defines hypnosis as a “seemingly altered state of consciousness during which individuals can be directed to act or experience the world in unusual ways.” Apparently only 15% of the population is always susceptible to hypnosis, and it runs in the family and depends on how often you use your imagination. There are two theories with hypnosis. The first is the divided consciousness theory, which rests on the principle of dissociation. Dissociation is when the consciousness is split into two, so one part of your consciousness is responsive to hypnosis, while the other, the “hidden observer,” knows what is going on the whole time. The other theory is the social/cognitive process theory, which states that some people actively want to believe hypnosis works and willingly participate, even though they think they are acting unconsciously. Either way, hypnosis has been used to treat physical and mental problems and pain.
The most surprising thing to me was the section on “owls” and “larks.” This is the idea that some people’s biological clocks peak in the morning or the afternoon. Apparently, most people don’t have a natural preference for either one. I thought I was the weird one, because I never have had a preference, and I am asked that question quite a bit. I was happy to learn that I am normal. I was also surprised to learn that the biological clocks are closely related to the sunlight, and if a person is living without sunlight, their entire rhythm will be thrown off.
Terms:
Consciousness, preconsciousness, unconscious state, implicit memory, hypnosis, dissociation, biological clocks