Chapter 07.pdf

chapter

States of Consciousness

THEME:

Understanding states of

consciousness can promote

self-awareness and enhance

personal effectiveness.

Key Questions

What is an altered state

of consciousness?

Do dreams have meaning?

How is hypnosis done, and what are

its limitations?

What are the effects of sleep loss or

changes in sleep patterns?

How does sensory deprivation

affect consciousness?

Are there different stages of sleep?

How does dream sleep differ from

dreamless sleep?

What are the effects of the more com-

monly used psychoactive drugs?

What are the causes of sleep disorders

and unusual sleep events?

How are dreams used to promote

personal understanding?

1553X_07_Ch07_223-260.indd 223

5/25/06 4:48:07 PM

Preview

A Visit to Several States (of Consciousness)

At a park in Amsterdam, a group of street musicians smoke

a joint and sing for spare change.

In Tucson, Arizona, one of your authors pours himself an-

other cup of coffee.

In New Zealand, a Maori tohunga (priest) performs a night-

long ritual to talk to the spirits who created the world in

the mythical period the Aborigines call Dreamtime.

In Toronto, Canada, three businesspeople head for a popu-

lar tavern after a stressful day.

In the American Southwest, a Navajo elder gives his con-

gregation peyote tea, a sacrament in the Native Ameri-

can Church, as a drumbeat resounds in the darkness.

In Northern Ireland, a nun living in a convent spends an

entire week in silent prayer and contemplation.

In Los Angeles, California, an aspiring actor consults a hyp-

notist for help in reducing her stage fright.

In Berkeley, California, an artist spends 2 hours in a ﬂ ota-

tion chamber to clear her head before resuming work

on a large painting.

What do all these people have in common? Each

person seeks to alter consciousness—in different ways,

to different degrees, and for different reasons. As these

examples suggest, consciousness can take many forms. In

the discussion that follows, we will begin with the familiar

realms of sleep and dreaming and then move to more

exotic states of consciousness.

States of Consciousness—The

Many Faces of Awareness

tion (such as “highway hypnotism” on long drives), unusual

physical conditions (for example, high fever, hyperventilation,

dehydration, sleep loss, near-death experiences), restricted sen-

sory input, and many other possibilities. In some instances, al-

tered states have important cultural meanings. (See “Conscious-

ness and Culture” for more information.)

An unconscious person will die without constant care. Yet as

crucial as consciousness is, we can’t really explain how it occurs.

Nevertheless, it is possible to identify various states of conscious-

ness and to explore the role they play in our lives. Let’s begin with

a guided tour of sleep and dreaming.

To be conscious means to be aware. Consciousness consists of all

the sensations, perceptions, memories, and feelings you are aware

of at any instant (Hobson, 2001; Koch, 2004). (See “What Is It

Like to Be a Bat?”). We spend most of our lives in waking

consciousness, a state of clear, organized alertness. In waking

consciousness we perceive times, places, and events as real, mean-

ingful, and familiar. But states of consciousness related to fatigue,

delirium, hypnosis, drugs, and euphoria may differ markedly

from “normal” awareness. Everyone experiences at least some al-

tered states, such as sleep, dreaming, and daydreaming. In every-

day life, changes in consciousness may also accompany long-

distance running, music, lovemaking, or other circumstances.

Sleep—A Nice Place to Visit

Each of us will spend some 25 years of life asleep. Contrary to

common belief, you are not totally unresponsive during sleep.

For instance, you are more likely to awaken if you hear your own

name spoken, instead of another’s. Likewise, a sleeping mother

may ignore a jet thundering overhead but wake at the slightest

whimper of her child. It’s even possible to do simple tasks while

asleep. In one experiment, people learned to avoid an electric

shock by touching a switch each time a tone sounded. Eventually,

they could do it without waking. (This is much like the basic sur-

vival skill of turning off your alarm clock without waking.) Of

course, sleep does impose limitations. Don’t expect to learn math,

a foreign language, or other complex skills while asleep (Druckman

& Bjork, 1994; Wood et al., 1992).

Altered States of Consciousness

How are altered states distinguished from normal awareness? During

an altered state of consciousness (ASC), changes occur in the

quality and pattern of mental activity. Typically there are distinct

shifts in our perceptions, emotions, memories, time sense,

thoughts, feelings of self-control, and suggestibility (Tart, 1986).

Deﬁ nitions aside, most people know when they have experienced

an ASC.

Are there other causes of ASCs? In addition to the ones men-

tioned, we could add the following: sensory overload (for exam-

ple, a rave, Mardi Gras crowd, or mosh pit), monotonous stimula-

1553X_07_Ch07_223-260.indd 224

5/25/06 4:48:13 PM

States of Consciousness

225

CRITICAL THINKING

What Is It Like to Be a Bat?

Imagine hurtling through the air on leather wings while shrieking

noisily. Suddenly, the echo of your own voice draws your attention

to a moth that is frantically trying to evade you. You careen after

it, twisting through the pitch-black jungle. Dodging trees and

other bats, you catch the moth and savor your ﬁ rst meal of the

still-young night.

In his famous essay, “What Is It Like to Be a Bat?” Thomas Na-

gel (1974) points out that we can learn a lot about bats from an

objective, third-person point of view. Scientiﬁ cally, we know that

bats use echolocation to hunt insects at night. But what does that

feel like from a subjective, ﬁ rst-person point of view? Have you ever

been curious about what it is like to be a bat, or a dog, or a cat?

What runs through Rover’s mind when he sniffs other dogs? Does

Rover have dreams? Are they as strange as ours? Do cats ever

worry about the future? Do they like music? Do animals feel joy?

According to Nagel, we cannot directly know the ﬁ rst-person

experience of animals (or even other people, for that matter).

However, it is reasonable to assume that bats must experience

something, whereas inanimate objects, such as rocks, experience

nothing.

The difﬁ culty of knowing other minds is why behaviorism re-

placed introspectionism early in psychology’s history. (Remember

Chapter 1?) A basic challenge for psychology is to use objective

studies of the brain and behavior to help us understand the mind

and consciousness, which are fundamentally ﬁ rst-person phenom-

ena (Grossenbacher, 2001; Hobson, 2001; Koch, 2004).

Because sleep is familiar, many people think they know all

about it. Before reading more, test your knowledge with the fol-

lowing Sleep Quiz. Were you surprised by any of the answers?

Let’s see what we know about our “daily retreat from the world.”

Sleep Quiz

1. People can learn to sleep for just a few hours a night and still

function well. T or F?

2. Everyone dreams every night. T or F?

3. The brain rests during sleep. T or F?

4. Resting during the day can replace lost sleep. T or F?

5. As people get older, they sleep more. T or F?

6. Alcohol may help a person get to sleep, but it disturbs sleep

later during the night. T or F?

7. If a person goes without sleep long enough, death will occur.

T or F?

8. Dreams mostly occur during deep sleep. T or F?

9. A person prevented from dreaming would soon go crazy.

T or F?

10. Sleepwalking occurs when a person acts out a dream. T or F?

● Figure 7.1 Not all animals sleep, but like humans, those that do have

powerful sleep needs. For example, dolphins must voluntarily breathe

air, which means they face the choice of staying awake or drowning. The

dolphin solves this problem by sleeping on just one side of its brain at a

time! The other half of the brain, which remains awake, controls breathing

(Jouvet, 1999).

The Need for Sleep

How strong is the need for sleep? Sleep is an innate biological rhythm

that can never be entirely ignored (Lavie, 2001). Of course, sleep

will give way temporarily, especially at times of great danger. As

comedian and ﬁ lmmaker Woody Allen once put it, “The lion and

the lamb shall lie down together, but the lamb will not be very

sleepy.” However, there are limits to how long humans can go

without sleep. A rare disease that prevents sleep always ends with

stupor, coma, and death (Oliwenstein, 1993). ( ● See Figure 7.1.)

Imagine placing an animal on a moving treadmill over a pool of

water. Even under these conditions, animals soon drift into repeated

microsleeps. A microsleep is a brief shift in brain activity to the pat-

Consciousness Mental awareness of sensations, perceptions,

memories, and feelings.

Waking consciousness A state of normal, alert awareness.

Altered state of consciousness A condition of awareness

distinctly different in quality or pattern from waking

consciousness.

Biological rhythm Any repeating cycle of biological

activity, such as sleep and waking cycles or changes in body

temperature.

Microsleep A brief shift in brain-wave patterns to those of

sleep.

1553X_07_Ch07_223-260.indd 225

5/25/06 4:48:14 PM

226

CHAPTER 7

HUMAN DIVERSITY

Consciousness and Culture

Throughout history, people have found ways to alter conscious-

ness. A dramatic example is the sweat lodge ceremony of the

Sioux Indians. During the ritual, several men sit in total darkness

inside a small chamber heated by coals. Cedar smoke, bursts of

steam, and sage ﬁ ll the air. The men chant rhythmically. The heat

builds. At last they can stand it no more. The door is thrown open.

Cooling night breezes rush in. And then? The cycle begins again—

often to be repeated four or ﬁ ve times more.

Like the Yoga practices of Hindu mystics or the dances of the

Whirling Dervishes of Turkey, the ritual “sweats” of the Sioux are

meant to cleanse the mind and body. When they are especially

intense, they bring altered awareness and personal revelation.

People seek some altered states for pleasure, as is often true of

drug intoxication. Yet as the Sioux illustrate, many cultures regard

altered consciousness as a pathway to personal enlightenment.

Indeed, all cultures and most religions recognize and accept some

alterations of consciousness. However, the meaning given to these

states varies greatly—from signs of “madness” and “possession”

by spirits, to life-enhancing breakthroughs. Thus, cultural condi-

tioning greatly affects what altered states we recognize, seek, con-

sider normal, and attain (de Rios & Grob, 2005; Heath, 2001).

In many cultures, rituals of healing, prayer, puriﬁ cation, or personal trans-

formation are accompanied by altered states of consciousness.

tern normally recorded during sleep. When you drive, remember

that microsleeps can lead to macro-accidents. Even if your eyes are

open, you can fall asleep for a few seconds. Roughly 2 out of every

100 highway crashes are caused by sleepiness (Lyznicki et al., 1998).

By the way, if you are struggling to stay awake while driving, you

should stop, quit ﬁ ghting it, and take a short nap. Coffee helps too,

but brieﬂ y giving in to sleep helps more (Horne & Reyner, 1996).

Sleep is a necessity. At various times, Randy’s speech was slurred,

and he couldn’t concentrate, remember clearly, or name common

objects (Coren, 1996). Sleep loss also typically causes trembling

hands, drooping eyelids, inattention, irritability, staring, in-

creased pain sensitivity, and general discomfort (Doran, Van

Dongen, & Dinges, 2001; Naitoh et al., 1989).

Most people who have not slept for 2 or 3 days can still do in-

teresting or complex mental tasks (Binks, Waters, & Hurry, 1999),

but they have trouble paying attention, staying alert, and doing

simple or boring routines. For a driver, pilot, or machine operator,

this can spell disaster (Fairclough & Graham, 1999). If a task is

monotonous (such as factory work or air trafﬁ c control), no

amount of sleep loss is safe (Gillberg & Akerstedt, 1998). In fact, if

you lose just 1 hour of sleep a night, it can affect your mood,

memory, ability to pay attention, and even your health (Everson,

1998; Maas, 1999). (See “Teenage Sleep Zombies.”)

How can I tell how much sleep I really need? Pick a day when you

feel well rested. Then sleep that night until you wake without an

alarm clock. If you feel rested when you wake up, that’s your nat-

ural sleep need. If you’re sleeping fewer hours than you need,

you’re building up a sleep debt (Maas, 1999).

Severe sleep loss can cause a temporary sleep-deprivation

psychosis (loss of contact with reality) like Peter Tripp suffered.

Confusion, disorientation, delusions, and hallucinations are typi-

cal of this reaction. Fortunately, such “crazy” behavior is uncom-

Sleep Deprivation

How long could a person go without sleep? With few exceptions, 4 days

or more without sleep becomes hell for everyone. For example, a

disc jockey named Peter Tripp once stayed awake for 200 hours to

raise money for charity. After 100 hours, Tripp began to hallucinate:

He saw cobwebs in his shoes and watched in terror as a tweed coat

became a suit of “furry worms.” By the end of 200 hours, Tripp was

unable to distinguish between his hallucinations and reality (Luce,

1965). Despite Tripp’s breakdown, longer sleepless periods are pos-

sible. The world record is held by Randy Gardner, who at age 17

went 268 hours (11 days) without sleep. Surprisingly, Randy needed

only 14 hours of sleep to recover. As Randy found, most symptoms

of sleep deprivation (sleep loss) are reversed by a single night’s rest.

What are the costs of sleep loss? Age and personality make a big

difference. Although Peter Tripp’s behavior became quite bizarre,

Randy Gardner was less impaired. However, make no mistake:

1553X_07_Ch07_223-260.indd 226

5/25/06 4:48:17 PM

States of Consciousness

227

THE CLINICAL FILE

Teenage Sleep Zombies

Did you ever have to ﬁ ght to stay awake in a high school class?

Hypersomnia (hi-per-SOM-nee-ah: excessive daytime sleepiness) is

a common problem during adolescence (Carskadon, Acebo, &

Jenni, 2004). The reason? Rapid physical changes during puberty

increase the need for sleep. However, sleep time tends to decease

during the teen years (Fukuda & Ishihara, 2001). At a time when

they need more sleep, many adolescents get less.

If teenagers are sleep deprived, why don’t they just sleep more? As

children enter puberty, they begin to stay up later at night. How-

ever, they must get up early to attend school, regardless of when

they went to bed. As a result, many teens are seriously sleep de-

prived during the week. Then, on the weekend, they sleep longer

and get up late in the morning (LaBerge et al., 2001). After sleep-

ing extra amounts for 2 days, many teens have difﬁ culty falling

asleep Sunday night. On Monday, they have to get up early for

school, and the sleep loss cycle begins again.

What can be done about teenage sleep deprivation? Psychologists

have persuaded some school districts to start classes later so that

high school students can sleep longer. Studies suggest that this

schedule improves learning and reduces behavior problems. In

fact, it looks like some of the “storm and stress” of adolescence

may be ordinary grouchiness caused by sleep loss (Mitru, Millrood,

& Mateika, 2002).

mon. Hallucinations and delusions rarely appear before 60 hours

of wakefulness (Naitoh et al., 1989).

However, this is rare. Only 8 percent of the population are short

sleepers, averaging 5 hours of sleep or less per night. On the other

end of the scale we ﬁ nd long sleepers, who doze 9 hours or more

(and tend to be daytime worriers) (McCann & Stewin, 1988). Most

of us sleep on a familiar 7- to 8-hour-per-night schedule. For a few

people, however, it is quite normal to sleep as little as 5 hours per

night or as much as 11 hours. Urging everyone to sleep 8 hours

would be like advising everyone to wear medium-size shoes.

Do elderly people need more sleep? Sleep needs actually remain

fairly constant as people age. However, older people rarely get the

sleep they need. Total sleep time declines throughout life. Those

older than 50 average only 6 hours of sleep a night. In contrast,

Sleep Patterns

Sleep was described as an innate biological rhythm. What does that

mean? Daily sleep and waking periods create a variety of sleep

patterns. Rhythms of sleep and waking are so steady that they

continue for many days, even when clocks and light-dark cycles

are removed. However, under such conditions, humans eventu-

ally shift to a sleep-waking cycle that averages slightly more than

24 hours (24 hours and 10 minutes, to be exact) (Czeisler et al.,

1999). This suggests that external time markers, especially light

and dark, help tie our sleep rhythms to days that are exactly 24

hours long (

Figure 7.2). Otherwise, many of us would drift into

our own unusual sleep cycles (Lavie, 2001).

What is the normal range of sleep? A few individuals can get by

on only an hour or two of sleep a night—and feel perfectly ﬁ ne.

●

Sleep deprivation Being prevented from getting desired or

needed amounts of sleep.

Sleep-deprivation psychosis A major disruption of mental and

emotional functioning brought about by sleep loss.

Sleep patterns The order and timing of daily sleep and waking

periods.

Short sleeper A person who averages 5 hours of sleep or less

per night.

Long sleeper A person who averages 9 hours of sleep or more

per night.

BRIDGES

Daily sleep cycles can be disrupted by rapid travel across time

zones (jet lag) and by shift work.

See Chapter 12, pages 402–403, for more information.

1553X_07_Ch07_223-260.indd 227

5/25/06 4:48:22 PM

Plik z chomika:

Inne pliki z tego folderu:

Inne foldery tego chomika: