MindTap MINDTAP Consciousness : Activity Information APPS writing Prompt MY Edit
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Question
MindTap MINDTAP Consciousness : Activity Information APPS writing Prompt MY Editor® MY Tutor® writer's Model Editor only MJAGCESs sness In a multi-paragraph essay, discuss the different states of consclousness that you have experienced in the past 24 hours, including any periods when you were asleep, alert, or "daydreaming" Be sure to describe both the brain and bodily activity you experienced during each state of consclousness. Include information from class materials, readings, and research on states of consciousness to support your discussion 7,1 Styles | NormalExplanation / Answer
Consciousness is the awareness we have of ourselves and our environment. Different states of consciousness are associated with different patterns of brain waves. Brain waves are tracings of electrical activity that is going on in the brain. Scientists record brain waves using an electroencephalograph (EEG), which monitors electrical activity through electrodes placed on the scalp. There are four main types of brain waves: alpha, beta, theta, and delta each with a corresponding mental state:
Type of Brain Wave - Corresponding Mental State
1. Alpha - Very relaxed or meditating
2. Beta - Awake and alert
3. Theta - Lightly asleep
4. Delta - Deeply asleep
Our experience of consciousness is functional because we use it to guide and control our behavior, and to think logically about problems (DeWall, Baumeister, & Masicampo, 2008). Consciousness allows us to plan activities and to monitor our progress toward the goals we set for ourselves. And consciousness is fundamental to our sense of morality — we believe that we have the free will to perform moral actions while avoiding immoral behaviors.
Consciousness is not just a bunch of different levels - it's a group of different states, of which the best worked out are those involving wakefulness and the different stages of sleep.
But everything is fluid. Just as we move in and out of alertness, ranging from paralyzed semi-conscious television watching to the creative peaks of our lives, what we remember and what we don't involves many different shifts of consciousness. Every day, from minute to minute and hour to hour, our consciousness moves through many different levels of wakefulness and productivity.
From yesterday morning till now my consciousness shifted from fully alertness to sound sleep. It moved between alertness, daydreaming, drowsiness and sleep.
Drowsiness: yesterday morning at 5.30 when my daughter awake me because it was her examination day and she had awake but I was in drowsiness and feeling being sleepy because I am tend to awake at 6am. She asked me for milk, and I replied “dear you drank milk and I also prepared your lunch box just take and go for examination. All the best.” But it was not the reality; still I was on my bed and saying in unawareness condition. She irritated and cried mamma I am getting late, please awake, you did not any. Oh suddenly my consciousness shifted from drowsiness to alertness. Now I was fully aware and can focus attention on what is going on, and what I have to do.
Alertness: as mentioned above a level of consciousness is a level of awareness about ourselves environment. Alertness is the stage of consciousness when we fully aware. Focus on conscious awareness on a stimulus which is selective attention. or Alertness is the state of active attention by high sensory awareness such as being watchful and prompt to meet danger or emergency, or being quick to perceive and act.
So first I gave her milk, prepared lunch box, help her to get ready for school, give some instructions about examination with full attention and when she left, I started to solve the Chegg questions with full presence of mind.
Daydreaming: Daydreaming is a short-term detachment from one's immediate surroundings, during which a person's contact with reality is blurred and partially substituted by a visionary fantasy, especially one of happy, pleasant thoughts, hopes or ambitions, imagined as coming to pass, and experienced while awake.
A study by Christoff et al. using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) found that the executive system of the brain as well as the areas of the brain at the core of the default network, namely the medial PFC, the posterior cingulated/precuneus, and the posterior temporoparietal cortex, were, in fact, active during daydreaming. They also found that “brain recruitment associated with off-task thinking is most pronounced in the absence of meta-awareness,” meaning when the person is not aware that he or she is daydreaming.
When I was solving the questions of Chegg I got a message from Chegg that it is “big earning day”. If answer 2+ questions, earn 15% extra on each solution in psychology. Oh great. I felt very happy. Because day before yesterday I was thinking to change floor tiles of my dining room. When I saw this offer I thought now I could manage money for the task of home easily and I will change tiles, I will call to builder, and then he will bring the catalogue of tiles design, I will choose white tiles of wooden pattern. My room will look very beautiful, then I will invite my friends on lunch. They all will praise. Really white looks very charming and so. I went far away from the present environment. Suddenly I heard bell on door and did awake fully from daydreaming stage. Now again I was alert.
Sleep: Sleep is just one of many types of consciousness we experience, and sleep itself comprises several states of consciousness. Even when we’re sleeping, our brains and bodies continue to work.
Although everyone sleeps, no one really knows why people sleep. Researchers have proposed several theories to explain how sleep evolved to be a necessary behavior: People conserve energy by sleeping periodically. Sleep has a protective function, as it keeps people tucked away at night, safe from predators. Sleep restores body tissues that are depleted during daily activities. Sleep research has provided a lot of information about what happens to the brain and body during sleep. Researchers study sleep by monitoring subjects who spend the night in labs, and they use various instruments for different purposes: Electroencephalographs (EEGs): record brain waves Electromyographs (EMGs): record muscle activity Electrooculographs (EOGs): record eye movements Electrocardiographs (EKGs): record the activity of the heart other instruments monitor breathing, body temperature, and pulse.
It was very tiring day. From the morning I was busy in various activities. So when I went to bed fell asleep immediately. Though there are five distinct stages of sleep in each cycle: 1, 2, 3, 4, and REM. Stages 1–4 When people are relaxed and ready to fall asleep, their EEG will show mostly alpha waves. When people fall asleep, they enter into stage 1 sleep, which lasts just a few minutes. In stage 1, the EEG shows mostly theta waves. Heart rate, breathing rate, and body temperature drop, and muscles relax. Fantasies or bizarre images may float around in the mind. After a few minutes of stage 1 sleep, people move into stage 2 sleep. Stage 2 lasts about twenty minutes and is characterized by short bursts of brain waves called sleep spindles. People then pass into slow-wave sleep, which occurs during stages 3 and 4. In stages 3 and 4, which together last about thirty minutes, the EEG displays mostly delta waves. People in stage 3 and 4 sleep show slow breathing and pulse rates, have limp muscles, and are difficult to rouse.
But I don’t remember anything. I always experienced sound sleep. And awake next day at 6am according to my biological clock with full consciousness and alert to do daily activities.
Now in the stage of alertness I am again solving the Chegg questions.