A person's perceptions, thoughts, and feelings at any moment in time constitute that person's consciousness.‏ ‏aliced state of consciousness is aid to exist when mental functioning seems changed or out of the ordinary to the‏ ‏person experiencing the state. Some altered states of consciousness, such as sleep and dreams, are experienced by‏ ‏everyone others result from special circumstances, such as meditation, hypnosis, or the use of drugs.‏


The functions of consciousness are a) monitoring ourselves and our environment so that we are aware of‏ ‏what is happening within our bodies and in our surroundings; and b) controlling our actions so that they‏ ‏coordinate with events in the outside world. Not all events that influence consciousness are at the center of our‏ ‏awareness at a given moment. Memories of personal events and of the knowledge accumulated during a lifetime,‏ ‏that are accessible but are not curently part of one's consciousnesss, are called preconscious memories‏ ‏Events that affect behavior even though we are not aware of perceiving them influence us subconsciously.

According to psychoanalytic theory, some emotionally painful memories and impulses are not available to‏ ‏consciousness because they have been repressed that is, diverted to the unconsciousness. Unconscious thoughts and‏ ‏impulses influence out behavior even though they reach consciousness only in indirect ways through dreams,‏ ‏irrational behavior, and slips of the tongue.‏


The notion of a divided consciousness assumes that thoughts and memories may sometimes be dissociated,‏ ‏or split off from consciousness, rather than repressed to the unconscious. Extreme example are cases of‏ ‏multiple personality, in which two or more well-developed personalities alternate within the same individual.‏

Sleep an altered state of consciousness, is of interest because of the rhythms that is evident in sleep‏ ‏schedules and in the depth of sleep. These rhythms are studied with the aid of the electroencephalogram (EEG).‏ ‏Patterns of brain waves show for stages (depths) of sleep, plus a fifth stage characterized by rapid eye‏ ‏movements (REMs). These stages alternate throughout the night. Dreams occur more often during REM sleep than‏ ‏during the other stages (non-REM sleep).‏


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