Psychology 4990G 001 FW25
Special Topics in Psychology: States of Consciousness
Western University
London Canada
Department of Psychology
Winter 2026
Psychology 4990G 001 FW25
Special Topics: States of Consciousness
1 Calendar Description
What does it mean to be conscious and how does that experience change across sleep, anaesthesia, trauma, dementia, and more? This course explores a wide range of altered and atypical states of consciousness through a practical, evidence-based lens, covering everything from coma and psychedelics to infant awareness and machine intelligence. Drawing on neuroscience, medicine, and psychology, we will explore what happens when consciousness breaks down, transforms, or disappears altogether.
Antirequisites: n/a
Prerequisites: Both Psychology 2801F/G and Psychology 2811A/B, or the former Psychology 2820E, or both the former Psychology 2800E and the former Psychology 2810, PLUS registration in fourth year Main Campus Honours Specialization in Psychology or fourth year Honours Specialization in Developmental Cognitive Neuroscience. Fourth year Main Campus Psychology students and Main Campus Psychology Special Students who receive 75% in the prerequisite courses may enrol in this course.
3 seminar hours; Course Weight: [0.5]
Unless you have either the prerequisites for this course or written special permission from your Dean to enrol in it, you may be removed from this course, and it will be deleted from your record. This decision may not be appealed. You will receive no adjustment to your fees in the event that you are dropped from a course for failing to have the necessary prerequisites.
2 Course Information
Instructor: Adrian M. Owen
Office & Phone: 519-661-2111 ext 83634
Office Hours: Variable. Please contact via email.
Email: aowen6@uwo.ca
Teaching Assistant: TBA
Office: TBA
Office Hours: TBA
Email: TBA
Time and Location of Classes: see Timetable on Student Centre
For courses that include an online component, students must have a reliable internet connection and computer that are compatible with online learning system requirements.
3 Course Materials
2-3 papers or chapters relevant to each week’s topic will be listed and made available for download at the beginning of the course. Students will be expected to have read and familiarised themselves with the papers relevant to that week’s topic prior to each lecture and be prepared to discuss the contents with the class.
4 Course Objectives and Learning Outcomes
|
Learning Outcome |
Learning Activity |
Assessment |
|
Students completing this course will gain insights into various altered and atypical states of consciousness including sleep, anaesthesia, trauma, dementia, coma and psychedelics and will learn how consciousness studies have shed light on the behaviour of infants, non-human animals, and machines. |
Assigned readings, lecture attendance, and contributions to class discussions. |
Attendance and active engagement in class discussions. |
|
Students completing this course will learn how to present complex scientific issues related to consciousness in a balanced, evidence-based way. |
Assigned readings, lecture attendance and class presentations on a chosen topic within consciousness studies. |
During the course, each student will be required to make one presentation to the class on one of the topics discussed. Topics will be assigned on a first-come, first-served basis. |
|
Students completing this course will learn how to present complex scientific issues related to consciousness via a single essay on one of three topics assigned during the course. |
Assigned readings, lecture attendance, and contributions to class discussions. |
Final essay on one of three topics in consciousness science assigned based of breadth of class discussions. |
5 Evaluation
5.1 An essential component of this course will be active participation in class discussions. Many of the issues discussed will have polarised the relevant scientific communities (e.g. non-human animal consciousness) and all students will be expected to contribute to discussions about these issues in a balanced manner based on their understanding of the assigned readings and the broader literature. Active class participation will constitute 33% of the final grade.
5.2 Each lecture will involve 2-3 scientific publications pertinent to the issue under discussion that week. These papers will be selected based on their relevance and their evidence-based approach and will often present opposing viewpoints. The papers for the entire lecture series will be listed at the start of the course. Every student in the class will be expected to select one paper at that time to present to the class on the relevant week (except for week 1 – Disorders of Consciousness- which will be led by the instructor). Presentations will typically be 10-15 minutes in length, may involve slides or other audiovisual aids, and will be followed by 45 minutes class discussion led by the instructor.
This presentation will constitute 33% of the final grade.
5.3 Towards the end of the course, three essay topics will be provided based on issues that have generated the liveliest discussion among the group. Students will be expected to deliver a single essay based on one of these three topics. This essay will constitute 34% of the final grade
The evaluation and testing formats for this course were created to assess the learning objectives as listed in section 4 and are necessary for meeting these learning objectives
Policy on Missing Coursework
The grading for this course will be based on a very simple combination of three factors:
- Regular and meaningful contributions to class discussions based on familiarity with the assigned readings.
- ii) A single presentation based around one of the assigned readings. Topics will be assigned on a first-come, first-served basis).
- A final essay on one of three topics provided towards the end of the course.
Failure to engage of complete any one of these three components of the course will be reflected in the final grade. Up to two classes may be missed without penalty. The final essay is due April 7, 2026 with a flexible deadline to April 9. After April 9, 10% per day will be deducted.
This course is exempt from the Senate requirement that students receive assessment of their work accounting for at least 15% of their final grade at least three full days before the date of the deadline for withdrawal from a course without academic penalty.
Because this is an essay course, as per Senate Regulations, you must pass the essay component to pass the course. That is, the average mark for your written assignments must be at least 50%.
The Psychology Department follows Western’s grading guidelines: https://www.uwo.ca/univsec/pdf/academic_policies/general/grades_undergrad.pdf
The expectation for course grades within the Psychology Department is that they will be distributed around the following averages:
70% 1000-level to 2099-level courses
72% 2100-2999-level courses
75% 3000-level courses
80% 4000-level courses
In the event that course grades are significantly higher or lower than these averages, instructors may be required to make adjustments to course grades. Such adjustment might include the normalization of one or more course components and/or the re-weighting of various course components.
Policy on Grade Rounding
Please note that although course grades within the Psychology Department are rounded to the nearest whole number, no further grade rounding will be done. No additional assignments will be offered to enhance a final grade; nor will requests to change a grade because it is needed for a future program be considered.
6 Assessment/Evaluation Schedule
7 Class Schedule
5th January: Disorders of Consciousness
Coma, vegetative state, minimally conscious state, and locked-in syndrome — with a focus on diagnosis, prognosis, neuroimaging, and ethical challenges.
12th January: Sleep, Dreaming, and Lucid Dreaming
The architecture of sleep, REM vs NREM, dream phenomenology, and what lucid dreaming and sleep walking reveals about conscious awareness.
19th January: Anaesthesia
How anaesthetic agents induce unconsciousness, mechanisms of action, and what events like intraoperative awareness tell us about the boundaries of consciousness.
26th January: Epileptic States and Seizure-Related Alterations
Transient disruptions to consciousness, including absence seizures, complex partial seizures, and postictal confusion, and their neural signatures.
2nd February: Consciousness in Non-Human Animals
From bees to octopuses, how we infer consciousness in other animals. Behavioral indicators, mirror self-recognition, caching, problem solving, theory of mind. .
9th February: Artificial Intelligence and Machine Consciousness
Can machines be conscious? Large language models, and the hard problem of inference.
16th February - BREAK
23rd February: Hypnosis and Suggestibility
The altered state of hypnosis, changes in perception, control, and memory and what it reveals about the flexibility of conscious processing.
2nd March: Psychedelic States
The brain under the influence of LSD, psilocybin, ketamine, and DMT. Is there such a thing as ‘higher consciousness’ ?Alterations in perception, therapeutic uses .
9th March: Consciousness in Infants and Foetuses
When does consciousness begin? Measuring awareness in early development, foetal responsiveness, pain and sensory perception..
16th March: Guest Lecture (Paul Frewen) Trauma-Related Altered States of Consciousness Dissociation, depersonalization, derealization, and out-of-body experiences, particularly in the context of trauma and PTSD.
23rd March: Meditation and Mindfulness States
How trained attention alters conscious experience. Long-term meditation practice, awareness without content, and the neuroscience of mindfulness.
30th March: Delirium and Confusional States
Acute, often reversible alterations in consciousness. Causes, identification, and cognitive consequences.
6th April: Dementia and Progressive Cognitive Decline
How conditions like Alzheimer’s and frontotemporal dementia erode the capacity for conscious experience, identity, and self-awareness.
8 Academic Integrity
Scholastic offences are taken seriously, and students are directed to read the appropriate policy, specifically, the definition of what constitutes a Scholastic Offence, at the following Web site: https://www.uwo.ca/univsec/pdf/academic_policies/appeals/scholastic_discipline_undergrad.pdf.
Possible penalties for a scholastic offence include failure of the assignment/exam, failure of the course, suspension from the University, and expulsion from the University.
Statement on Use of Electronic Devices
Laptops, smartphones, and tablet devices may be used during class and can be used for interactive activities during each lecture.
Plagiarism Detection Software
All required papers may be subject to submission for textual similarity review to the commercial plagiarism detection software under license to the University for the detection of plagiarism. All papers submitted for such checking will be included as source documents in the reference database for the purpose of detecting plagiarism of papers subsequently submitted to the system. Use of the service is subject to the licensing agreement, currently between Western and Turnitin.com.
Use of AI
The use of generative AI tools such as ChatGPT to produce written work is not permitted unless permission is granted by the instructor for specific circumstances. Any work submitted must be the work of the student in its entirety unless otherwise disclosed. When used, AI tools should be used ethically and responsibly, and students must cite or credit the tools used in line with the expectation to use AI as a tool to learn, not to produce content.
AI Policy for Psychology:
Responsible use of AI is allowed in Psychology. This includes using AI for brainstorming, improving grammar, or doing preliminary/background research on a topic.
AI is not to be used in place of critical thinking.
The misuse of AI undermines the academic values of this course. Relying on AI to create full drafts or fabricate sources is prohibited. You are ultimately responsible for any work submitted, so it is highly advised that you critically review your Generative AI output before incorporating this information into your assignments.
If you use AI, you must clearly explain its role in your work. All written assignments will require an AI Usage Statement, in which you will indicate what tools you have used, what you have used them for, and (broadly) how you have modified this information. Assignments without an AI Usage Statement will not be accepted.
Violations of this policy will be handled according to Western’s scholastic offense policies.
9 Academic Accommodations and Accessible Education
View Western’s policy on academic accommodations for student with disabilities at this link.
Accessible Education provides supports and services to students with disabilities at Western.
If you think you may qualify for ongoing accommodation that will be recognized in all your courses, visit Accessible Education for more information. Email: aew@uwo.ca Phone: 519 661-2147
10 Absence & Academic Consideration
Academic Considerations: https://registrar.uwo.ca/academics/academic_considerations/index.html
11 Other Information
- Office of the Registrar: https://registrar.uwo.ca
- Student Development Services: sdc.uwo.ca
- Psychology Undergraduate Program: https://www.psychology.uwo.ca/undergraduate/index.html
Students who are in emotional/mental distress should refer to Health and Wellness@Western https://www.uwo.ca/health/ for a complete list of options about how to obtain help.
Please contact the course instructor if you require material in an alternate format or if you require any other arrangements to make this course more accessible to you.
If you wish to appeal a grade, please read the policy documentation at: https://www.uwo.ca/univsec/pdf/academic_policies/appeals/appealsundergrad.pdf. Please first contact the course instructor. If your issue is not resolved, you may make your appeal in writing to the Undergraduate Chair in Psychology (psyugrd@uwo.ca).
Copyright Statement
Lectures and course materials, including power point presentations, outlines, videos and similar materials, are protected by copyright. You may take notes and make copies of course materials for your own educational use. You may not record lectures, reproduce (or allow others to reproduce), post or distribute any course materials publicly and/or for commercial purposes without the instructor’s written consent.
