PSY 1101 Lecture Notes - Lecture 12: Frontal Lobe, Sensory Neuron

• School: University of Ottawa
• Department: Psychology
• Course: PSY 1101
• Professor: Kenneth Campbell

Document Summary

We shall consider consciousness in two ways: as a state and as a process. The sleep-wake cycle is divided into a waking and a sleeping state. In the alert and waking state, the observer is aware of their environment and is said to be in a state of consciousness. During natural sleep, the observer is no longer (apparently) aware of their environment and is said to be in a state of unconsciousness. While in the waking state, the observer, although conscious, is not conscious of everything. The observer must restrict attention to only a very small portion of their environment. This is called the selective attention process and permits the observer to become conscious of highly relevant stimulus input. The observer will not be conscious of less relevant input. This perceptual experience is highly personal and subjective and can therefore be easily altered. Sensory receptors are constantly bombarded with input.