Consciousness and the TwoTrack Mind Modules 7, 8, 9 Syllabus Exam2 7, 8, 9 Consciousness
17, 18, 19 Sensation & Percep Syllabus Exam3 28,29,30,31 Intelligence 10,11,12 Nature/Nurture 45,46,47
Personality Chapter Topics 1. Defining Consciousness Dual-track mind 2. Sleep and Dreams 3. Drugs and Consciousness Consciousness is
alertness; being awake vs. being unconscious self-awareness; the ability to think about self having free will; being able to make a conscious decision a persons mental
content, thoughts, and imaginings To explore the nature of consciousness, it helps to first choose a definition. In the text, consciousness is defined as: our awareness of
ourselves and our environment. Arent animals aware of their environment? If so, is our awareness different?... Possiblybecause we have (uniquely?) a narrative experience of that awareness.
Are animals conscious? 2012 Cambridge Declaration on Consciousness Convergent evidence indicates that nonhuman animals have the neuroanatomical, neurochemical and neurophysiologial substrates of conscious states, along with the capacity to exhibit
intentional behaviours. Forms of Consciousness https://www.youtube.com/watch? v=Iv0yuDa7P9E Forms of Consciousness
Psychologys Relationship to this Topic Psychology was once defined as the description and explanation of states of consciousness. Now, consciousness is just one topic among many for psychologists. Cognitive
neuroscience allows us to revisit this topic and see how the brain is involved. Brain and Consciousness: Findings and Debates
Finding Some rare unconscious patients have brain responses to conversation. Implication Dont judge a book by its cover when it
comes to consciousness. Debate What is going on in the brain that generates our experience of consciousness?
One View Synchronized, coordinated brain activity generates consciousness, or at least is a sign that conscious activity is occurring. Conscious vs. Unconscious Activity:
The Dual-Track Mind Conscious high track: our minds take deliberate actions we know we are doing Examples: problem solving, naming an object, defining a
word Conscious: I saw a bird! Unconscious: Unconscious low track: our minds perform automatic
actions, often without being aware of them Examples: walking, acquiring phobias, processing sensory details into perceptions and memories Think before you act? Libet (1985)
Brain activity .35 seconds BEFORE conscious of wanting to push the button Think before you act? Why Have Two Tracks? Benefit? SLOW FAST
Thinking Action Perception Action controlled processing automatic processing Examples You can hit or catch a ball without having to consciously calculate its trajectory.
You can speak without having to think about the definitions of each word. You can walk and chew gum AND carry on a conversation. Unusual Consequences of Having a Dual-Track Mind Blindsight Selective Attention
Selective Inattention Inattentional blindness Change blindness Choice blindness Blindsight
Case Study A woman with brain damage, but NO eye damage, was unable to use her eyes to report what was in front of her. BUT, she was able to use her eyes to help her take actions such as putting mail in slots.
What are the two mental tracks in this case? Describing the mail and the slot: the high road, or conscious track, in this case known as the visual perception track
Judging size and distance well enough to put the mail in the slot: the low road, or unconscious, automatic track, in this case known as the visual action track Blindsight
Hollow Face Illusion Perception versus Action Kroliczak et al. (2006) Selective Attention millions of information bits
every second. Selective attention e.g., Cocktail Party Effect Selective Attention and Social Conversation Good news: focus on a conversation
Bad news: Inattention blindness to serious threats DrPs wasp story Cellphones and Texting Distracted driving: huge problem. Selective Attention
Texting Is Really Recent: 2008 Texting instantly became Huge Peak Texting Frequency (UW)
Peak Texting Frequency (2013) Typical day: Receive (2013) Texting While Driving Texting While Driving 48%
16% Texting While Driving 36% 12% Texting While Driving
11% 3% Texting While Driving http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zz90K20Dufk New Manitoba Fine
for cellphone while driving: $ 700. Selective Attention: what we focus on, what we notice Selective Inattention:
what we are not focused on, what we do not notice Selective inattention refers to our failure to notice part of our environment when our attention is directed elsewhere. Selective Inattention: inattentional blindness
change blindness choice blindness http://www.youtube.com/ watch?v=vJG698U2Mvo http://www.youtube.com/ watch?v=VkrrVozZR2c
Inattentional Blindness Various experiments show that when our attention is focused, we miss seeing what others may think is obvious to see (such as a gorilla, or a unicyclist). Some magic tricks take advantage of this phenomenon. Change Blindness
The Switch Two-thirds of people didnt notice when the person they were giving directions to was replaced by a similar-looking person. By the way, did you notice whether the replacement
person was in the same clothes or different clothes? Choice Blindness In one experiment, people chose their favorite among two jams. But when the jars contents were deceptively reversed and tasted again, people described the same jars contents as their chosen jam.
The researcher flips the divided containers, so that the next taste from that jar is actually the other jam. And now, to SLEEP-perchance, to Dream Sleep as a State of Consciousness When sleeping, are we fully
unconscious and dead to the world? Or is the window to consciousness open? Consider that: we move around, but how do we stop ourselves from falling out of bed? we sometimes incorporate
real-world noises into our dreams. some noises (our own babys cry) wake us more easily than others. How Do We Learn About Sleep and Dreams? We can monitor EEG/brain
waves and muscle movements during sleep. We can expose the sleeping person to noise and words, and then examine the effects on the brain (waves) and mind (memory). We can wake people and
see which mental state (e.g. dreaming) goes with which brain/body state. Sleep and Biological Rhythms 24 hour biological
clock 90 minute sleep cycle Understanding Biological Rhythms Biological rhythms A periodic, more or less regular fluctuation in a biological system; may or may not have psychological implications
Entrainment Biological rhythms are synchronized with external events such as changes in clock time, temperature, and daylight Circadian Rhythms Occur about every 24 hours Example: The sleep-wake cycle Infradian Rhythms
Occur less often than once a day Examples: birds migrating, bears hibernating Ultradian Rhythms greater than 1/day, e.g., about every 90min eg: stomach contractions and hormone levels Circadian Rhythms "Circa" (around), "-dias" (day) Human cycle=24-25 hours
Controlled by: "biological clocks" Suprachiasmic Nucleus (in hypothal.) Light--Optic Nerve--SCN-->hormones Adapts body to environment cycles Light > retina > suprachiasmatic nucleus > pineal gland > secretion of melatonin Melatonin regulates circadian rhythm
51 52 Circadian Rhythm Your degree of alertness depends where you are in your circadian rhythm. There are stable individual differences:
Chronotype Which bird are you? Morning: Night: LARK OWL
Morningness-Eveningness Alertness is correlated with temperature temperature average peak/trough: Highest at 8pm, Lowest at 6am Individual differences Lark (morning) vs Owl (evening) very stable over time
changes with age wide individual differences (16-50 hr cycles) Morningness-Eveningness Morningness-Eveningness Questionnaire -0.50 correlation with daily body temp peak Watts (1982): match improves relationship quality Monk & Leng (1986): test time matching
improves mental performance (reasoning, serial search tasks) Cunia et al. (2014) Cunia et al. (2014) Honesty requires self-control Self-control is related to alertness
Q: Does chronotype affect honesty? Time of day ethicality ? Time of day x Chronotype ethicality ? Cunia et al. (2014) Study:
Online questionnaire (Owl-Lark) ALSO Roll dice to enter a lottery Self-report dice result (might lie!) Actual dice result recorded secretly. Results: Chronotype x Time of Day interaction ! Lying? Larks in evening, Owls in morning. Fig. 1. Results for Study 2: mean reported die roll as a function of session for morning and
evening people. Gunia B C et al. Psychological Science 2014;0956797614541989 Copyright by Association for Psychological Science Menstrual Cycles and Mood Does the menstrual cycle influence womens mood at certain times?
Yes, physical symptoms are common No, emotional symptoms are rare Irritability and depression Fewer than 5% of women Premenstrual dysphoric disorder (PMDD) Cause? Leading theory= Serotonin drop
From changes in progesterone, estrogen, and testosterone changes in late luteal phase Variants in the estrogen receptor alpha gene that are associated with PMDD Variants in COMT gene (mood regulator) Abnormal sensitivity to their own natural hormone changes. Symptoms do correlate with drop in serotonin precursors (in brain) as measured by PET
SSRIs work, supports serotonin theory Research Conclusions about PMS No gender differences exist in monthly mood No relation between menstrual cycle and mood ! No consistent PMS
pattern exists across menstrual cycles No connection exists between PMS and behaviour Why is PMS over-estimated? Selective attention: Notice depression or irritability when occurs premenstrually but
overlook times when moods are absent Selective attribution: prementrual irritability to mentruation but attribute it to other things at other times. Normative beliefs about PMS Confirmation Biases Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD)
Depression that is seasonal (winter) Fatigue as winter approaches Depression onset in winter Spring symptoms go away Cause ? Hyper-reactive circadian regulation of serotonin Darkness Melatonin Melatonin lowers serotonin
Low serotonin depression SAD Treatment Time outdoors Brighter illumination in home & workplaces Exercise, (particularly outdoors) Fruits and vegetables Light therapy (phototherapy) Anti-depressants
Cognitive therapy Phototherapy Night Work, Sleeping, & Health Jet Lag stressful, cortisol is elevated Rotating night shifts are much worse than constant night shift As study of railroad engineers found 60% had
dozed off at the controls during night trips. 20-30% of traffic accidents per/year are associated with driver sleepiness or fatigue Effect of napping or coffee Horne & Rayner (1996) Driving Simulator 15-min break
Caffeine vs Nap vs Placebo RESULT Caffeine & nap both significantly reduced line crossing (compared to placebo)
