Nicholas A. McClare Professor Resta Introduction to Psychology 01 December 2016 Chapter 5 Summary; Consciousness Consciousness touches on many different aspects of psychology such as sleeping, dreaming, hallucinations, out-of-body experiences, and mind-altering drugs. Throughout this chapter, these topics are explored in great depth giving a stronger understanding of the mystery and confusion that lies within the idea of consciousness. There is no clear reason for sleep. According to page 171 of Pearson’s Introduction to Psychology, there are many different beliefs of why our bodies must sleep; sleep might play a critical role in storing memories and remembering emotional information (Payne & Kesinger, 2010), sleep could be important in keeping the immune system healthy, sleep may help promote insight and problem solving (Wagner, et al., 2004), or sleep might even contribute to our survival by conserving our energy, taking us out of circulation at times when we might be most vulnerable to unseen predators, and restoring our strength to fend them off (Siegel, 2005). The only idea that is for sure is that sleep is of central importance to our health and daily functions. Sleep schedules follow along with the Circadian rhythm, changes that occur on a roughly 24-hour basis in many of our biological processes, including hormone release, brain waves, body temperature, and drowsiness. There is a reason you may feel drowsy around three or four in the afternoon and it is due to
A factual definition of consciousness; Consciousness is “2: the state of being characterized by sensation, emotion, volition, and thought: 3: the totality of conscious states of an individual.”(Pp. 1). One is able to physically feel, understand emotion, is a willing individual, and are
"Of all the objects in the universe, the human brain is the most complex. There are as many neurons in the brain as there are stars in the Milky Way galaxy.", a quote from an issue of a Discover magazine article. But what comes from this complexion? The answer is thought. Consciousness has been quarreled between writers, scientists, priests, atheists and everyone in between. The priest says it is divine and cannot be explained, the atheist says no - it’s evolution. The writer romanticizes it, creating characters that contain the free will of the author but have more unrealistic complexion than any real human character. Scientists explain that we are in a state of awareness and that consciousness cannot be entirely explained as it is subjective and objectively, it cannot be measured. Human existence has transcended from being a simple organism living with survival instincts: hunting and gathering food for our kin, to working boring jobs to feed the family and to have just enough leisurely time to assure yourself not to jump off the nearest building to end it all. The question is - can an organism become complex enough to consciously choose what they believe is morally right with free will. Do we live for others or ourselves? Does consciousness actually exist and how do we prove it?
Sleep is a state of altered consciousness, characterized by certain patterns of the brains activity and inactivity. An altered state of consciousness is when a person is not completely aware of their surroundings. Some researchers believe that we sleep to clear our minds of useless information. Other people believe that it is a type of primitive hibernation: we sleep to conserve energy.
Introduction: I’m sure everyone likes sleep. Everyone needs sleep to keep the least bit active through out there day. Sleep is an important factor for your body to restore energy. Sleeping is a time to rest your body from all the hard work you have done. It is relaxing so deeply that you lose consciousness of your surroundings.
We all are very familiar with the very perplexing nature of this entity “consciousness”. We can tell when we are awake, when we are thinking, when we are pondering over the world, but to explain this nature of consciousness can be somewhat grueling. However as our understanding and comprehension of the brain is escalating, we are able to tackle this subject to an extent.
Numerous factors determine when and why you feel tired, full of energy, and hungry. A person's state of consciousness and awareness varies throughout the day and depends on a person's activity, environment, and time clock.
The question “why do we sleep?” is a very difficult question to answer. One way to think about why sleep is important is looking at sleep as if it was food. Food helps us feel better and also helps the human body function properly.There are many different assumptions on why we sleep.The first is that sleeping allows the body to repair cells damaged by metabolic
My own theory of consciousness is a state of awareness of self. It has been said that this awareness stems from arousal. Consciousness, to me, is entirely internal. We experience the external world, but only through our senses. Dehaene and Naccache (2001) explain that neuroscience is beginning to investigate and understand the "neural underpinnings of consciousness." Thus, consciousness is something that we experience via our own bodies. However, there is an implied separation between experience and consciousness. Animals and plants also have mechanisms for interacting with the world, but they do not appear to have the same neural underpinnings that them to interpret the world with the same awareness that humans have. We, however, not only experience the external world, but we are aware of that experience.
Consciousness refers to an individual’s self-awareness, both internally and external stimulus which include your unique thoughts, memories, feelings, sensations and environment. Your consciousness can constantly change from one conscious to another. The constant change in consciousness can also be referred to as “stream of conscious”. Awareness- its mechanism and function has
Foster states, “Essentially, all the stuff we've burned up during the day, we restore, we replace, we rebuild during the night.” Foster also explains that “Within the brain, a whole raft of genes have been shown to be turned on only during sleep, and those genes are associated with restoration and metabolic pathways.” I agree with Foster’s first explanation of why we sleep. Sleep helps repair and renew tissue and nerve cells, the neutralization of neurotoxins, and the restoration of normal levels of chemicals throughout our bodies. Sleep can also heal the body physically. For example, it can heal wounds, strengthen the immune system, and increase growth hormone levels in the
Sleep is needed for the brain, because during sleep, important body functions and brain activity occurs. Unfortunately today, people are forgetting the reasons why sleep is so important. Wondering about it? Here, let me tell you. The reasons are because, naps can’t replace sleeping, the physical and mental part of your body is getting affected, and not getting enough sleep is called sleep debt. This is why sleeping plays an important role in the success of our life.
Sleep is an altered state of consciousness. Consciousness, modern psychologists believe, is an awareness of our environment and us. Sleep is the tendency to think of rest. When people get tired they want to close their eyes, lie down and sleep. What is the reason we do this? The human body requires long periods of sleep in order to restore and rejuvenate. When the body sleeps it helps to grow muscle, repair tissue, and structure hormones.
There are four main reasons why we sleep. The first is for cardiovascular relaxation which lower blood pressure, lowers heart rate, and lowers metabolic rate. The second reason is for mental and physical restorative properties. Lack of sleep will then manifest itself with physical and cognitive side effects such as fatigue, difficulty focusing, slower response times, memory problems, decreased balance, and decreased ability to perform tasks. The third reason we sleep is to help with learning. Studies have shown that good sleep prior to taking tests increases performance. Finally sleep is the only cure for sleepiness. Daytime sleepiness can cause a person to fall asleep while reading, watching television, talking to others, or even driving. Not getting enough sleep puts people at risk for hypertension and coronary events. It also increases morbidity and mortality.
Sleeping is extremely important for all mammals, but humans especially. Without sleep we are unable to function properly and at our fullest abilities. When we sleep we grow, and it is an opportunity for us to dream which has many benefits. Sleep is also a way for us to relieve ourselves of stress.
Why is sleep so important to us? There have been studies done that suggest that sleep deprivation can be detrimental to or decrease the function of our immune systems. Just think, how often was it that after many days of continual sleep deprivation did you start to think that you had a cold? Sleep deprivation can also result in a decrease in core body temperature, decrease in the release of growth hormone, and possible cause an increase in heart rate variability. Sleep also seems to be important in order for our nervous system to work properly. Without sufficient amount of sleep, our behavior and our ability to do things are impaired. We feel drowsy and are unable to concentrate after not getting enough sleep. With enough sleep deprivation, it has been found that some begin to hallucinate and develop mood swings. Higher-ordered cognitive task become more difficult to do where it has been shown that tests that require speed and accuracy have lower results compared to those that are not sleep deprived. Judgment is also impaired; it has been tested that riskier behavior is more likely to occur when sleep deprived. (2).This is part of the reason why you should not drive when you are sleep deprived. Aside from the risk of falling asleep at the wheel, since judgment is