Consciousness Ch 6
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What is consciousness?
our immediate awareness of our internal and external states. Your awareness of your surroundings and yourself
What did William James (1890) describe consciousness as?
A stream of consciousness - a continuing flow of changing thoughts
Consciousness involves: (4)
Attention, monitoring, remembering, planning
Consciousness is controlled by….
different networks of neurons
Explain monitering
we constantly monitor our environment and ourselves to decide what we want to attend to
what is inattentional blindness?
failure to notice things around us to which we are not paying attention
what is the cerebral cortex?
the outer covering of the brain
some areas of the cerebral cortex are responsible for …., others for knowing when we are attending (visual areas)
attending
what is blindsight
being unaware of what has reached our attention - being unable to see, but being aware of a stimulus
Split brain studies show…
being able to see but being unaware of the stimulus
What is the thalamus for?
relays sensory information from various parts of he brain to the cortex
What do intralaminar nuclei and midline nuclei no?
project axons of neurons through cortical areas involved in attention
damage to both sides of the thalamus causes a
coma
damage to one side of the thalamus creates
loss of awareness of one half of their bodies
Infants have consciousness in terms of
self awareness - baby looking in a mirror notice if something is different on themselves
babies develop sense of self by age of
18 months
What are the two levels of awareness?
proconscious and unconscious
What is preconscious
information from your pas that is stored in your long term memory and can be easily accessed (familiar and routine behaviours, automatic behaviours)
What is unconscious
information from your past that is stored in you long term memory but cannot be easily accessed