PSY 1100 Chapter Notes - Chapter 6: Theta Wave, Alpha Waves, Sleep Spindle
Document Summary
Wakefulness refers to alertness or the extent to which a person is awake or asleep. Awareness refers to the monitoring of information from the environment and from one"s thoughts: go hand in hand but do not always work together (vegetative states, extreme drunkenness) Coma is when the eyes are closed and the person is unresponsive: results from illness of brain injury that damages the reticular formation (area of the brain that controls wakefulness) Vegetative state- the eyes might be open but the person is unresponsive: wakefulness without awareness . Minimally conscious state-a person is barely awake but shows some deliberate movements: cannot communicate. Preconscious- material that is potentially accessible but not currently available to awareness: tip-of-the-tongue phenomenon - knowing someone"s name but we can"t come up with it. Moderate consciousness-knowing we know something even if we can"t bring it into awareness: when we sleep or dream. Even when fully awake we experience fluctuations in consciousness alertness ebbs and flows.
