Understanding Consciousness, Sleep, and Conditioning

Chapter 6: Consciousness

Consciousness: a person's awareness of him/herself and his/her environment.

Planning Function

Helps you to inhibit urges we have that are not moral, ethical, or practical. Evaluates our thoughts before we act.

Levels of Consciousness

• Altered State of Consciousness: Bizarre, disorganized, or dream-like patterns.
• Minimal Consciousness: Fragmented connection between self; we might respond without being aware of it at a more thoughtful level.
• Full Consciousness: The awareness of the environment and awareness of mental state, giving information.
• Self-Consciousness: Focus on us.

Sleep Stages

1. Doesn't last very long (10 min).
2. Lasts a bit longer (20 min).
3. The most vivid dreams.
4. One of the most important (walking, seems real...).
5. Almost waking up.

REM: Brain activity is very high and intense dreaming is likely to occur.

Dreams

They are the sequence of images, feelings, ideas, and impressions that pass through our minds as we sleep.

• Freud classifies the content in 2 sets:
  • Manifest Content: Refers to what we explicitly remember about the dream.
  • Latent Content: Describes unconscious meaning of a dream.
• Lucid Dreaming: A person achieves awareness of a dream as a dream while sleeping.
• Theory of Dreams: Result of the brain's attempt to make sense of random neural activity.

Chapter 7: Conditioning

Classical Conditioning

The phenomenon in which stimuli are associated, thus creating a reflex response.

• Unconditioned Stimulus (US): An original, unlearned stimulus that elicits a certain reflex action.
• Unconditioned Response (UR): A reflex action elicited by an unconditioned stimulus.
• Conditioned Stimulus (CS): An event that is repeatedly paired with a particular unconditioned stimulus.
• Conditioned Response (CR): A learned reaction triggered by a conditioned stimulus, even in the absence of an associated unconditioned stimulus.
• Delayed Conditioning: A type of classical conditioning in which the conditioned stimulus is presented before the unconditioned stimulus, and the termination of the conditioned stimulus is delayed until the unconditioned stimulus is made available.
• Trace Conditioning: A type of classical conditioning in which the conditioned stimulus is discontinued before the unconditioned stimulus is presented.
• Simultaneous Conditioning: A type of classical conditioning in which the conditioned stimulus and the unconditioned stimulus are presented at the same time.
• Backward Conditioning: A type of classical conditioning in which the conditioned stimulus is presented after the unconditioned stimulus.
• Second-Order Conditioning: A type of classical conditioning in which the conditioned stimulus is paired with a neutral stimulus.

Operant Conditioning

A type of learning in which the organisms associate their actions with consequences.

• Operant Behavior: Consists of responses that an organism makes to produce an effect on the environment.
• Reinforcement: Describes an act that causes a response to be more likely to recur.
• Law of Effect: If a response produces a satisfying effect, it is likely to occur again.
• Three-Term Contingency: 3-part process where the organisms learn in the presence of certain stimuli.