Psychology of consciousness
Course objectives
Main objective of this course is to encourage student to critically think about and explore consciousness, and to explore experiences and behaviours linked to the changes in consciousness.
Learning outcomes
After the completion of the course students will be able to:
- Understanding the complexity of the term consciousness, and its relations with other similar terms used in psychological theories and research.
- Understanding and recognising various altered states of consciousness and its psychological and neurophysiological frame.
- Recognition and differentiation of various altered states of consciousness induced by different techniques and substances.
- Validation of the research in the field of psychology of consciousness
Course content, lectures with literature broken down in detail by weekly class schedule (Colloquium I)
Introduction to the course (1L - 03/10/23)
Definitions and issues of the term consciousness. History of consciousness. (10/10/23 1L+1S)
Theoretical approaches – metaphysics, psychology, neuroscience (17/10/23 1L+1S)
Theories about consciousness: Consciousness, psyche (soul) and experience of self (24/10/23 1L+1S)
Theories of consciousness: Monism, Dualism, Differentiation of the terms consciousness, mind, cognition, attention (31/10/23 1L+1S)
Contemporary theories of consciousness: Subjectivity, intersubjectivity and “objective science” (07/11/23 1L+1S)
Scientific methods in consciousness research, phenomenology (14/11/23 1L+1S)
Exam I, Research Proposal (21/11/23 1+1S) Chapters 1-5 from: Revonsuo, A. (2017). Foundations of Consciousness. Routledge.
Course content with literature broken down in detail by weekly class schedule (Colloquium II)
Psychedelic Recommended literature:
van Elk M, Yaden DB. Pharmacological, neural, and psychological mechanisms underlying psychedelics: A critical review. Neurosci Biobehav Rev. 2022 Sep;140:104793. doi: 10.1016/j.neubiorev.2022.104793.
Grinspoon, L. & Bakalar, J. B. Psychedelic Drugs Reconsidered (Basic Books, 1979). Hartogsohn, I. American Trip: Set, Setting, and the Psychedelic Experience in the Twentieth Century (The MIT Press, 2020).
Scopolamine (documentary film) document leading board for drugs: problems of classification (Dreifuss, 2019)
Wakefulness and sleeping. Definition of sleeping and its stages in regards to brain activity (EEG) and neuroendocrine system.
Recommended literature:
Chapter 8, Dreaming, page 107-124, from Revonsuo, A. (2017). Foundations of Consciousness. Routledge. Gupta, R., Pandi-Perumal, S. R., & Bahammam, A. (2018). Clinical Atlas of Polysomnography. Apple Academic Press.
Leschziner, G. (Ed.). (2022). Oxford Handbook of Sleep Medicine. Oxford University Press.
Altered states of consciousness
Altered states of consciousness induced with various psychological and/or physical activities (classification of states and effects). Neuroscientific discoveries and the correlates of consciousness and various states of altered consciousness
Recommended literature:
Chapter 10, Higher states of consciousness, from Revonsuo, A. (2017). Foundations of Consciousness. Routledge.
Music and consciousness: Chapters 2 and 5 from Klempe (2022), Klempe, S. H. (2022). Sound and Reason: Synesthesia as Metacognition. Palgrave Macmillan.
Chapters 1: Altering Consciousness: Setting Up the Stage (1-23), Cardeña, E., & Winkelman, M. (2012).
Chapter 4: Spirit Possesion and Other Alterations of Consciousness in the Christian Western Tradition (73-89), Cardeña, E., & Winkelman, M. (2012).
Chapter 7: Eastern Approaches to Altered States of Consciousness (139-159), Cardeña, E., & Winkelman, M. (2012).
Chapter 12: Altered Consciousness in Religion (255-277), Cardeña, E., & Winkelman, M. (2012).
Chapter 16: Time Is the Key: Music and Altered States of Consciousness (355-377), Cardeña, E., & Winkelman, M. (2012).
List of questions, key terms, concepts for second colloquium.
Literature
Cardeña, E., & Winkelman, M. (2012). Altering consciousness multidisciplinary perspectives. Praeger. http://www.credoreference.com/book/abcconscious
Dang-Vu, T. T. (2020). Neuronal Oscillations of Wakefulness and Sleep: Windows on Spontaneous Activity of the Brain. Springer Nature.
Gennaro, R. J. (2018). The Routledge Handbook of Consciousness. Routledge, Taylor & Francis Group.
Gupta, R., Pandi-Perumal, S. R., & Bahammam, A. (2018). Clinical Atlas of Polysomnography. Apple Academic Press.
Jenkins, J. S. (2001). The Mozart effect. Journal of the Royal Society of Medicine, 94(4), 170–172.
Klempe, S. H. (2022). Sound and Reason: Synesthesia as Metacognition. Palgrave Macmillan.
Lin, H., & Hsieh, H. Y. (2011). The Effect of Music on Spatial Ability. In P. L. P. Rau (Ed.), Internationalization, Design and Global Development (pp. 185–191). Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-21660-2_21
Leschziner, G. (Ed.). (2022). Oxford Handbook of Sleep Medicine. Oxford University Press.
Nummenmaa, L., Hari, R., Hietanen, J. K., & Glerean, E. (2018). Maps of subjective feelings. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 115(37), 9198–9203. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1807390115
Revonsuo, A. (2010). Consciousness: The science of subjectivity. Psychology Press.
Revonsuo, A. (2018). Foundations of Consciousness (1st ed.). Routledge.
Sateia, M. J. (2014). International classification of sleep disorders-third edition: Highlights and modifications. Chest, 146(5), 1387–1394. https://doi.org/10.1378/chest.14-0970
Velmans, M. (2009). Understanding Consciousness (2nd ed.). Routledge.