PSYA01H3 Chapter Notes - Chapter 5: Sleep Spindle, Psychoactive Drug, Hypnagogia
Document Summary
Consciousness is a person"s subjective experience of the world and the mind. Although you might think of consciousness as simply being awake, the defining feature of consciousness is experience, which you have when you"re not awake but experiencing a vivid dream. Psychologists hope to include an understanding of phenomenology, how things seem to the conscious person, in their understanding of mind and behavior. Let"s look at two of the more vexing mysteries of consciousness: the problem of other minds and the mind/body problem. Philosophers have called this hypothetical non-conscious person a zombie, in reference to the living- yet-dead creatures of horror films. People judge minds according to the capacity for experience (such as the ability to feel pain, pleasure, hunger, consciousness, anger, or fear) and the capacity for agency (such as the ability for self- control, planning, memory, or thought).
