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In psychology, consciousness is defined as our awareness of both internal and external stimuli. This encompasses awareness of internal states, such as pain, hunger, thoughts, and emotions, as well as external environmental cues, like seeing sunlight, feeling warmth, or hearing a friend's voice.

Consciousness in Psychology

Human life is characterized by continuous and significant shifts in awareness of both external surroundings and internal states. These shifts cycle through various states, such as the alertness of wakefulness, the distinct experiences of deep sleep and dreaming, and other altered states of consciousness that can be induced.

States of Consciousness

One's circadian rhythm is a daily cycle that regulates itself in accordance to the outside world. When this cycle is thrown off, it negatively impacts sleep regulation and can lead to disruptions of normal sleep. 

Problems with Circadian Rhythms

Sigmund Freud postulated that the mind consists of three levels of awareness: the conscious, the preconscious, and the unconscious.

Levels of Consciousness

A component of consciousness involving the perception of one's own internal states. This includes physiological sensations like pain, hunger, thirst, and sleepiness, along with cognitive and emotional states such as thoughts and feelings.

Awareness of Internal Stimuli

A component of consciousness related to the perception of the surrounding environment through sensory input. Examples of this awareness include seeing sunlight, feeling the temperature of a room, or hearing another person's voice.

Awareness of External Stimuli

To illustrate the relationship between the conscious and unconscious mind, Sigmund Freud used the metaphor of an iceberg. He proposed that the conscious mind, representing our current awareness, is merely the small, visible tip of the iceberg, constituting only about one-tenth of our total mind. The vast, submerged portion of the iceberg represents the unconscious, which contains the bulk of our mental activity that we are unaware of and cannot easily access.

Freud's Iceberg Metaphor for Consciousness

Based on the provided scenario, identify two distinct examples of the character's awareness of *internal* stimuli and two distinct examples of their awareness of *external* stimuli. Explain your reasoning for each choice.

Analyzing Conscious Experience

Biological rhythms are internal cycles of biological activity that appear as recurring patterns of bodily change. These cycles can vary in length, such as a menstrual cycle that takes about 28 days or a body-temperature cycle that changes over about 24 hours.

Biological Rhythms

A person is sitting on a park bench on a sunny day. They feel the warmth of the sun on their skin and hear children laughing nearby. At the same time, they notice they are feeling hungry and start thinking about what to have for lunch. This person's combined experience of these external and internal events best illustrates which psychological concept?

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