consciousness
(noun)
The state of being aware; awareness to both internal and external stimuli.
Examples of consciousness in the following topics:
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Describing Consciousness
- Consciousness is an individual's state of awareness of their environment, thoughts, feelings, or sensations; in order to experience consciousness, one must be both awake and aware.
- Issues of concern in the philosophy of consciousness include the following: whether consciousness can ever be explained mechanistically; whether non-human consciousness exists, and if so, how it can be recognized; how consciousness relates to language; whether consciousness can be understood in a way that does not require a dualistic distinction between mental and physical states or properties; and whether it may ever be possible for computers or robots to be conscious.
- He pointed out that there is no reason to assume that consciousness is tied to any particular body or mind, or that consciousness cannot be transferred from one body or mind to another.
- Today, the primary focus of consciousness research is on understanding what consciousness means both biologically and psychologically.
- It questions what it means for information to be present in consciousness, and seeks to determine the neural and psychological correlates of consciousness.
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A History of Theories of Consciousness
- Consciousness can be defined as human awareness to both internal and external stimuli.
- In fact, Locke held that consciousness could be transferred from one soul to another.
- René Descartes also addressed the idea of consciousness in the 17th century.
- They posit that consciousness changes over time, in quality and in degree: an infant's consciousness is qualitatively different than a toddler's, a teenager's, or an adult's.
- Abnormal development also affects consciousness, as do mental illnesses.
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Neural Underpinnings of Consciousness
- Consciousness is the awareness of the self, the environment, and the relationship between these two distinct worlds.
- In this context, the neuronal correlates of consciousness may be viewed as its causes, and consciousness may be thought of as a state-dependent property of some complex, adaptive, and highly interconnected biological system.
- Neuronal consciousness is often described as involving two distinct dimensions: arousal and content.
- Sleep is just one of the many types of consciousness we can experience and comprises several states of consciousness itself.
- One popular theory implicates different patterns of brain waves in producing different states of consciousness.
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Syncope
- Syncope, the medical term for fainting, is a transient loss of consciousness.
- Syncope, the medical term for fainting, is defined as a transient loss of consciousness and postural tone characterized by rapid onset, short duration, and spontaneous recovery due to global cerebral hypoperfusion that most often results from hypotension.
- Many forms of syncope are preceded by a prodromal state that often includes dizziness and loss of vision ("blackout") (temporary), loss of hearing (temporary), loss of pain and feeling (temporary), nausea and abdominal discomfort, weakness, sweating, a feeling of heat, palpitations, and other phenomena, which--if they do not progress to loss of consciousness and postural tone--are often denoted "presyncope. " Abdominal discomfort prior to loss of consciousness may be indicative of seizure which should be considered different than syncope.
- Isolated episodes of loss of consciousness, unheralded by any warning symptoms for more than a few moments.
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Durkheim and Social Integration
- People's norms, beliefs, and values make up a collective consciousness, or a shared way of understanding and behaving in the world.
- The collective consciousness binds individuals together and creates social integration.
- At the same time, the collective consciousness is produced by individuals through their actions and interactions.
- Through their collective consciousness, Durkheim argued, human beings become aware of one another as social beings, not just animals.
- According to Durkheim, the collective consciousness is formed through social interactions.
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External Sources of Social Change
- Political Process Theory argues that there are three vital components for movement formation: insurgent consciousness, organizational strength, and political opportunities.
- "Insurgent consciousness" refers back to the notions of deprivation and grievances.
- The insurgent consciousness is the collective sense of injustice that movement members (or potential movement members) feel and serves as the motivation for movement organization.
- Some groups may have the insurgent consciousness and resources to mobilize, but because political opportunities are closed, they will not have any success.
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Unconscious Perception
- We encounter more stimuli than we can attend to; unconscious perception helps the brain process all stimuli, not just those we take in consciously.
- Individuals take in more stimuli from their environment than they can consciously attend to at any given moment.
- The brain is constantly processing all the stimuli it is exposed to, not just those that it consciously attends to.
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Unconscious Perception and Influences on Behavior
- Our brains take in more information than we are consciously aware of, which influence our perceptions and behaviors.
- It takes in much more information than we are consciously aware of.
- Despite not being consciously aware of it, much of this information still influences how we think and act.
- Many believe that that hypnosis is a form of unconsciousness resembling sleep, and that because the information is internalized on an unconscious level during a trance, the person may not be consciously aware of it .
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Introduction to the Process and Types of Memory
- We must locate it and return it to our consciousness.
- Sensory memory is not involved in higher cognitive functions like short- and long-term memory; it is not consciously controlled.
- Explicit or declarative memory requires conscious recall; it consists of information that is consciously stored or retrieved.
- These memories are not based on consciously storing and retrieving information, but on implicit learning.
- An example of implicit learning is learning to ride a bike: you do not need to consciously remember how to ride a bike, you simply do.
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Giving Effective Criticism: Be Positive, Specific, Objective, and Constructive
- The goal of constructive criticism is to improve the behavior or the behavioral results of a person, while consciously avoiding personal attacks and blaming.
- Constructive, consciously avoiding personal attacks and blaming, insulting language and hostile language are avoided.
- It can fight ideas that keep people down with ideas that unlock new opportunities, while consciously avoiding personal attacks and blaming.