The Place of Consciousness in Psychology’s History
1880s: Psychology defined as description and explanation of states
of consciousness
● The first half of 20th century: Direct observation of behavior
● Before the 1960s: Consciousness nearly lost; the science of behavior
● After the 1960s: Study of consciousness altered by hypnosis, drugs, and meditation; the
importance of cognition
● Today: Under the influence of cognitive psychology, neuroscience, and cognitive
neuroscience, consciousness reclaims its place as an important area of research
Brain States and Consciousness
● Consciousness
○ Awareness of self and environment
Some states occur Daydreaming Drowsiness Dreaming
spontaneously
Some are physiologically Hallucinations Orgasm Food or
induced oxygen
starvation
Some are psychologically Sensory Hypnosis Meditation
induced deprivation
Consciousness and Selective Attention
● Selective attention
○ Focusing conscious awareness on a particular stimulus
● Inattentional blindness
○ Failure to see visible objects when attention is directed elsewhere
● Change blindness
○ Failure to notice changes in the environment
Change Blindness
While a man (in red) provides directions to a construction worker, two experimenters rudely
pass between them carrying a door. During this interruption, the original worker switches places
with another person wearing different-colored clothing. Most people, focused on their direction
giving, do not notice the switch (Simons & Levin, 1998).
Selective Attention and Accidents
, ● Rapid toggling between activities is common today.
○ Sixty percent of U.S. drivers read or sent a text message or viewed a phone map
while driving in the last month (Glicklich, 2016).
○ Multitasking distracts brain resources allocated to driving; brain activity
decreases, on average, 37 percent when the conversation occurs (Just et al.,
2008).
○ Cell-phone use increases accident risk fourfold.
Lecture Notes 2/11/2020
Dual Processing: The Two-Track Mind
● Dual processing
○ Information is often simultaneously processed on separate tracks:
● conscious (explicit)
● unconscious (implicit)
● Perceptions, memory, attitudes, and other cognitions are affected.
● Parallel processing
○ Processing many aspects of a problem simultaneously; the brain’s natural mode
of information processing for many functions
● Sequential processing
○ Focusing conscious awareness on a particular stimulus
What Is Sleep?
● Sleep is the Periodic, the natural loss of consciousness—as distinct from:
○ A coma
○ General anesthesia
○ Hibernation
The Biological Clock & Circadian Rhythm
● Biological rhythms
○ Periodic changes in the body’s functioning
● Circadian rhythm
○ The internal biological clock of the 24-hour cycle of day and night
○ Body temperature rises as morning approaches, peaks during the day, dips in the
early afternoon and begins to drop in the evening
○ Altered by age and experience
Theories about why we sleep!
1. Sleep Protects: Sleeping in the darkness when predators
loomed about kept our ancestors out of harm’s way.
2. Sleep Recuperates: Sleep helps restore and repair brain
tissue.
3. Sleep Helps Remembering: Sleep restores and rebuilds our
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