the awareness of whatever is presently happening in your mind

an imagined character who interrupts motor commands before they reach the body and creates fictitious sensory signals to send to the brain, enabling Descartes to doubt the accuracy of his perceptual experiences

a perspective based on René Descartes's argument that all knowledge based on perception can be doubted, so the best foundation for human knowledge is logic, as expressed in his famous statement: I think, therefore I am

a consequence of Descartes's doubt of the accuracy of perceptual experience; the belief that there are two kinds of things in the world, physical things and mental things, that exist independently

because Cartesian dualism entails that mental things are distinct and independent of physical things, there is no way for mental intentions to influence physical things, such as body movements

a rejection of Cartesian dualism by arguing that there is just one kind of thing in the world; because dualism entails two kinds of things, as a response to dualism, there are two kinds of monism: idealism (there are only mental things) and materialism (there are only physical things)

the branch of monism that claims there are only mental things in the world

when trying to explain the available data, any unnecessary parts should be trimmed from the explanation as if with a razor

a perspective associated with George Berkeley, who argued that in contrast to Cartesian rationalism, the only basis for human knowledge is perceptual experience

a Latin term roughly translated as "blank slate," which is a metaphor for the mind of a newborn baby

the branch of monism that claims there are only physical things in the world

such as mind, is the product of (i.e., emerges from) smaller pieces (neurons) but is not apparent when examining the smaller pieces

the way the world looks and feels inside your conscious mind—for example, the way red looks or the way pineapple tastes

a technique used by structuralists to study mind by breaking sensory experiences into their constituent pieces

an experimental technique in which participants view images depicting two objects that have been rotated relative to one another and report whether the two objects are the same or different

a perceptual phenomenon that occurs when an observer does not notice a change in visual stimulus

the daily cycle of waking and sleeping, body temperature, and hormones that is generated by an internal biological clock and synchronized to light and dark patterns due to the Earth's rotation

a bundle of cells in the hypothalamus embodying the internal clock, which drives the circadian rhythm

these kinds of theories argue that our bodies and brains accumulate wear and tear while active and awake, so we need sleep to repair the damage

these kinds of theories argue that sleep is tailored to the way an animal makes a living

the signal from electrodes connected to the scalp measuring brain activity

the signal from electrodes connected to the neck measuring muscle tone

the signal from electrodes connected to the head on both sides of the eye measuring eye movements

the stage of sleep that occurs after ascending from deep sleep into lighter sleep; this stage of sleep is called "emergent" to distinguish it from the initial stage 1 sleep that occurs just after descending from wakefulness

also called emergent stage 1, this stage of sleep is paradoxical because it combines brain activity associated with light sleep with muscle tone associated with deep sleep

one of the three states of consciousness that people typically cycle through each day, along with wakefulness and non-REM sleep

sleep disorders associated with difficulty getting to sleep or remaining asleep

sleep disorders associated with excessive sleepiness when trying to remain awake

an insomnia sleep disorder characterized by difficulty breathing due to loss of muscle tone during sleep, leading to numerous brief awakenings during the night

a hypersomnia sleep disorder characterized by overwhelming urges to fall asleep at inappropriate moments during the day

an REM sleep disorder in which some parts of the brain remain awake while other parts descend into REM

an REM sleep disorder that occurs at the end of REM when part of the brain wakes up but other parts of the brain remain briefly stuck in REM

according to Freud's theory of dreams, the manifest content of dreams are the people and things that actually appear in dreams

according to Freud's theory of dreams, the latent content of dreams represents the actual fantasy that the id wishes to indulge in dreams, but to avoid arousing the ego, the id disguises the latent content in symbols

the induction of a state of consciousness in which a person apparently loses the power of voluntary action and is highly responsive to suggestion or direction

the therapeutic system of Franz Mesmer, hypnotism in its modern form

use of hypnosis for pain relief

a beneficial effect, produced by a "fake" drug or treatment, that cannot be attributed to the properties of the placebo itself and must therefore be due to the patient's belief in that treatment

externally generated (exogenous) substances that change the way the brain works

a neurotransmitter that encourages neurons to send action potentials

a neurotransmitter that acts like the mirror image of dopamine by discouraging neurons from sending action potentials

the drugs that are related to the chemical extracted from the opium poppy plant

psychoactive agents that cause perceptual anomalies and false sensory messages