nature of consciousness and its significance in the history of psychology
affect of advances in neuroscience (brain activity) for greater understanding of various mental activities such as walking, sleeping, dreaming
variations in levels of awareness
evolutionary roots of consciousness
consciousness/brain activity
biological rhythms/sleep
role of circadian rhythms
problems associated with circadian rhythms
melatonin/circadian rhythms
role biological rhythms?
sleep/wake cycle
cycling through stages of sleep
age trends/sleep patterns
culture trends/sleep patterns
neural bases of sleep
evolutionary bases of sleep
sleep deprivation/problems
sleep disorders
insomnia
narcolepsy
sleep apnea
night terrors
dreams
content of dreams/manifest and latent content
links between dreams and waking states
theories of dreaming/freud’s psychoanalytic approach
culture and dreams
altered states of consciousness
hypnosis
hypnotic induction and susceptibility
hypnotic phenomena
theories of hypnosis
meditation/pure consciousness or relaxation?
physiological correlates
long-term benefits
(2) compare/contrast conscious and subconscious information processing
conscious/voluntary control
subconscious/processing occurs simultaneously on many parallel tracks for example when we meet someone we instantly and unconsciously respond to their gender, race, and/or appearance
(5) describe the cyclical nature and functions of sleep
brain wave activity/EEG
what are the different brain waves and how do these brain waves reflect the sleep/wake cycle?
rem vs nonrem sleep patterns
sleep deprivation/consequences
(6) sleep disorders
(7) dreams
manifest/that which one remembers vs latent content/hidden content (symbols)
dream analysis/freudian approach vs cognitive approach
dream interpretation
(8) hypnosis
what are the behaviors of individuals who have been hypnotized?
what are some of the claims regarding the use of hypnosis?
is hypnosis an altered state of consciousness?
difficulties associated with process of hypnosis
(9) drugs/consciousness
what is drug dependency?/what are some of the common misconceptions about drug addiction?
what are psychoactive drugs?
tolerance
withdrawal
(10) depressants/stimulants/hallucinogens
what are the physiological and psychological effects of the major drugs?
(11) what are the factors that contribute to drug use/abuse?
why has drug use increased in this country?
why has drug use increased with teenagers in this country?
contributing factors such as stress/depression
is there a biological susceptibility to dependence on drugs?
(12) near-death experience
what is this experience?
are they real or are they hallucinations?