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biopsychology Flashcards

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1
Q

what is a nervous system

A

-a network of cells in the human body
-the body’s internal communication system

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2
Q

what is the function of the nervous system

A

-collect process and respond to information from the environment
-controls organs and cells in the body

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3
Q

divisions in the nervous system

A

-Central Nervous system
-Peripheral Nervous system

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4
Q

subdivisions in the CNS

A

-brain
-spinal cord

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5
Q

functions of the brain

A

-receives and processes info from the senses
-the centre of conscious awareness
-responsible for higher mental functions
-generates emotions and thoughts
-initiates responses
-stores memories

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6
Q

functions of the spinal cord

A

-conducts signals to and from the brain.
-connects nerves to the PNS
-controls reflex actions

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7
Q

function of the PNS

A

send messages to and from the CNS via neurons

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8
Q

subdivisions of the PNS

A

Autonomic NS
Somatic NS

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9
Q

functions of the ANS

A

-responsible for involuntary responses eg. breathing
-controls smooth and cardiac muscles and glands
-control centres are in the brain stem

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10
Q

functions of the SNS

A

-responsible for voluntary movements eg. walking
-controls skeletal muscles
-control centres are in the motor cortex
-connects the CNS and the senses

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11
Q

further subdivisions in the ANS

A

sympathetic branch
parasympathetic branch

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12
Q

function of the sympathetic branch

A

fight or flight response

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13
Q

function of the parasympathetic branch

A

conserve and restore body energy when relaxed

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14
Q

acronym for fight or flight process

A

Sally- stressor
Has-hypothalamus
Seen-sympathetic
A-adrenaline
Piranha-parasympathetic

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15
Q

process of fight or flight response

A
  1. stressor is identified. by the hypothalamus
    2.activates the sympathetic branch of the ANS
    3.adrenaline is released by the adrenal medulla into the bloodstream
    4.the fight or flight response is produced preparing the body for action
    5.this produces physiological reactions such as increases heart rate and increased respiration
    6.the parasympathetic branch returns the body back to normal once the stressor has been removed
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16
Q

fight or flight response AO3 -strength

A
  • a strength of the biological expl. of fight or flight response is that it uses scientific methods
    -this is because it is based on objective and empirical methods such as testing heart rate and blood pressure to test the physiological responses to a threat such as increased heart rate, which are associated with the fight or flight response
    -increases the internal validity of the fight or flight response therefore increasing psychology’s scientific status
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17
Q

fight or flight response AO3 - weakness ‘freeze’

A

-fight or flight is too simplistic
-some researchers argue that human behaviour is not limited to two responses
-the first response to danger is to avoid confrontation altogether through ‘freeze’ response
-during the response,humans consider the best course of action for the threat they are faced with.
-suggests the fight or flight response does not consider other factors such as thought processes

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18
Q

fight or flight AO3 -weakness ‘females’

A

-another issue is that it does not explain the stress response in females -eg. research has found that women are more likely to protect their offspring and form alliances with other women than to fight or run away
-this highlights a gender bias, as the fight or flight response assumes that men and women respond in the same way to a threatening situation prior to this research.

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19
Q

structure of the neuron - draw and label

A

-dendrites
-cell body
-myelin sheath
-axon
-nodes of ranvier
-terminal button

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20
Q

features of the structures in a neuron -draw and label

A

-dendrites: where neurotransmitter receptors are found; receptor and NT bind causing a new electrical impulse to occur
-cell body: includes nucleus which contains the genetic material of the cell
-myelin sheath: protects the axon;speeds up transmission of message
-axon: sends a nerve impulse through the neuron to transmit message to next neuron
-nodes of ranvier: speeds up transmission of impulse by forcing it to jump across gaps along the axon
-terminal button: end of the neuron; send info to the next neuron through the release of NT

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21
Q

structure of sensory neuron

A

long dendrites + short axon

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22
Q

function of sensory neuron

A

-send info from PNS (senses) to CNS (brain)
-receptors found in eyes,ears,tongue,skin

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23
Q

structure of relay neuron

A

short dendrites + short axon + no myelin sheath

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24
Q

function of the relay neuron

A

-found in the CNS
-carry nerve impulses between neurons allowing sensory and motor neurons to communicate
-analyse sensations from neuron and decide how to respond

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25
Q

structure of the motor neuron

A

short dendrites + long axon

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26
Q

function of motor neuron

A

-send info via long axons from brain (CNS) through effectors such as muscles/glands

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27
Q

process of synaptic transmission

A
  1. in the presynaptic neuron,action potentials are sent down the axon until they reach the presynaptic terminal
    2.causes the neurotransmitters which are stored in vesicles and are only located in the presynaptic neuron to be released into the synaptic cleft
    3.NT diffuse through the synapse and bind to specific receptors only present on the postsynaptic neuron
    4.once enough NT have attached to receptor sites on the postsynaptic neuron there are two possible outcomes
    5a.the next neuron is ready to fire an impulse depending on whether the NT has an excitatory or inhibitory effect
    5b.the NT are recycled to be stored back in the vesicles in the presynaptic neuron in a process called reuptake via the reuptake transporters
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28
Q

what is the excitatory NT

A

-ex. NT binds to postsynaptic receptors so postsynaptic cell becomes positively charged
chemical messenger that makes it more likely that the next neuron will fire an impulse
-increases brain activity in the CNS
-eg.noradrenaline

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29
Q

what is an inhibitory NT

A

-inhib. NT binds to postsynaptic receptors so postsynaptic cell becomes negatively charged
chemical messenger that prevents/reduces the likelihood that the next neuron will fire
-decreases brain activity in the CNS
-eg.serotonin

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30
Q

what is summation

A

-if two neurons synapse at the same postsynaptic neuron
-occurs when both excitatory and inhibitory influences are added together
-if the overall effect is mainly inhibitory it reduces the likelihood the neuron will fire; decreasing brain activity in the CNS
-if the overall effect is mainly excitatory it increases the likelihood the neuron will fire; increasing brain activity in the CNS

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31
Q

what is a gland

A

an organ that secretes hormones that regulate functions in the blady

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32
Q

what are hormones

A

chemical messengers which are released by the glands within the
endocrine system to regulate many bodily functions

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33
Q

what is the pituitary gland also known as

A

master gland

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34
Q

function of the pituitary gland

A

secretes may diff hormones that control the functions of other glands

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35
Q

function of the ovaries

A

-pituitary gland releases LH + FSH
-encourages ovaries to release oestrogen + progesterone
-which regulate the female menstrual cycle and prepares the body for reproduction

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36
Q

function of the testes

A

-pituitary gland releases LH + FSH
-encourages the testes to release testosterone
-involved in creating male characteristics and producing sperm

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37
Q

what is the function of the pineal gland

A

-secretes the hormone melatonin
-which regulates the sleep/wake cycle
-by making a person feel tired and ready to sleep

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38
Q

what is the function of the adrenal gland

A

-releases adrenaline
-which causes physiological changes involved in the fight or flight response
-such as increases blood flow to transport oxygen to the brain for rapid response planning

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39
Q

Definition of localisation of function

A

-specific areas of the brain are specialised for certain functions
-eg. motor cortex is responsible for voluntary movement

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40
Q

definition of hemispheric lateralisation

A

-brain is split into two symmetrical halves called the left and right hemisphere
-idea that the two diff sides are responsible for diff mental processes
-eg. left is responsible for language and right is responsible for recognition and creativity

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41
Q

definition of the holistic theory of the brain function

A

scientists believed that ALL parts of the brain worked together when processing information

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42
Q

function of the broca’s area

A

found: left hemisphere
involved in the production of spoken and written language

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43
Q

what happens if there is damage to Broca’s area

A

-Broca’s aphasia
-person may show slow speed that lacks fluency
-may produce short meaningful speech that requires a lot of effort

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44
Q

function of wernicke’s area

A

found: left hemisphere
involved in the understanding of language

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45
Q

what happens of there is damage to wernicke’s area

A

-Wernicke’s aphasia
-individuals cannot understand spoken language
-person produces nonsense words as part of their speech

46
Q

function of the motor cortex

A

found: both hemispheres
involved in voluntary motor movements
each hemisphere is responsible for the movement on the opposite side of the body

47
Q

what happens if there is damage to the motor cortex

A

-loss of control over fine motor movements
-small movements on the opposite side of the body
-paralysis

48
Q

function of the visual cortex

A

found: both hemispheres
area of the brain receives info directly from the eyes
RVF-LH
LVF-RH

49
Q

what happens if the visual cortex becomes damaged

A

-blindness
-hallucinations
-colourblindness

50
Q

strength of lateralisation of function

A

-RTS was conducted by Broca
-reported a case study of a man who lost the ability to speak,except for one word “tan”
-could still understand language
-post mortems showed damage to one area in the left hemisphere which is now named Broca’s area
-shows language production is localised to one specific brain area as the theory predicts

51
Q

limitation of RTS localisation of function

A

-low population validity
-it is a case study with “tan” as the only ppts
-may not be appropriate to generalise the findings on LOF of Broca’s area to the rest of the population
-they may be able to process language in other areas of the brain
-therefore suggests more research is needed with more diverse samples before firm conclusions on the localisation of language areas are possible

52
Q

limitation of Localisation of function

A

-case study of patient EB
-EB suffered from brain damage that resulted in removal of left hem and therefore language centres
-despite this, after time EB managed to regain some of his language abilities
-which would not be possible if language was completely localised to the left hem
-this demonstrates that language must be in more areas that just the left hem, arguing against localisation of language centres in the brain

53
Q

Hemispheric lateralisation AO1

A

-idea that the left and right hem of the brain are responsible for different functions
-left is responsible for. language as the two main language centres Broca’s area (for language production) and Wernicke’s area (language understanding) are located in the LH
-right is responsible for recognition of faces,places,objects and creativity and produces rudimentary words but contributes to the emotional context of what is being said
-the brain has contralateral wiring:
-LH recieves info from RVF and controls right side of the body
-RH receives info from the LVF and controls the left side of the body

54
Q

what is contralateral wiring

A

-LH recieves info from RVF and controls right side of the body
-RH receives info from the LVF and controls the left side of the body

55
Q

Hemispheric lateralisation research AO3 -RTS

A

-RTS HemLat was conducted by Sperry using split brain patients with a severed corpus callosum
-found that when shown an object in RVF were able to name it verbally but when presented in LVF were not but able to identify it through pointing
-supports that the brain is lateralised and that the two hem have diff functions such as the left being responsible for language abilities
-therefore split brain research supports theory of HemLat

56
Q

limitation of RTS hemispheric lateralisation AO3

A

-the extent to which split brain research supports theory of Hemlat has been criticised for individual differences in how lateralised the brain was
-the degree for how much the corpus callosum was severed varied greatly with some patients having more disconnection between the two hem then others
-weakness as research may not be measuring the effects of lateralisation effectively which reduces the internal validity of the research
-research on split brain may not be appropriate for expl. HemLat

57
Q

RTC hemispheric lateralisation

A

-RTC comes from patient EB
-EB suffered from brain damage that resulted in the removal of his left hemisphere and therefore his language centres
-despite this EB was able to regain some language ability which would not be able to happen if the brain was completely lateralised
-this demonstrates that language must be in more areas than just the left hemisphere
-arguing against the lateralisation of the brain

58
Q

what is split brain ?

A

-have had surgery to cut the area that connects the two hemispheres
-this is to relieve epilepsy but has a major side effect
-two hemispheres become functionally separate

59
Q

split brain research AO1

A

Aim: investigate the effect of severing the connection between two hemispheres of the brain
method: natural experiment
ppts: 11 patients with severed cc
procedure: ppts sit in front of a screen fixating on a spot in the middle. of a screen; ppts are presented with visual info from LVF or RVF for 1/10th of a second

60
Q

split brain research results

A

-objects seen in the RVF can be named verbally/in writing as the image would be processed by the language centres in the LH
-if objects are only seen in the LVF then they can only be identified through pointing but cannot be named by the participant

61
Q

Split brain research AO3 -limitation indiv.

A

-the extent to which split brain research supports theory of Hemlat has been criticised for individual differences in how lateralised the brain was
-the degree for how much the corpus callosum was severed varied greatly with some patients having more disconnection between the two hem then others
-weakness as research may not be measuring the effects of lateralisation effectively which reduces the internal validity of the research
-research on split brain may not be appropriate for expl. HemLat

62
Q

RTC split brain research on hemispheric lateralisation

A

-RTC comes from patient EB
-EB suffered from brain damage that resulted in the removal of his left hemisphere and therefore his language centres
-despite this EB was able to regain some language ability which would not be able to happen if the brain was completely lateralised
-this demonstrates that language must be in more areas than just the left hemisphere
-arguing against the lateralisation of the brain

63
Q

strength of split brain research into hemispheric lateralisation AO3

A

-uses scientific methods
-based on objective and empirical methods such as laboratory settings
-used in order to identify which hemispheric of the brain is responsible for which task
-eg. patients were only able to say what they saw when the image was presented to the RVF which suggests the LH is activated during language tasks
-increases the overall internal validity of hemispheric lateralisation research
-therefore raising Psychology’s scientific status

64
Q

definition of plasticity

A

brain’s ability to change and adapt its structures and processes as a consequence of experience and new learning

65
Q

what is synaptic pruning

A

connections that are not used as regularly are deleted and ones that are used regularly are strengthened

66
Q

Functional recovery AO1

A

-type of plasticity to recover ability/mental processes that have been affected as a result of brain damage
-brain is able to rewire itself by forming new synaptic connections close to the damaged area of the brain
-secondary neural pathways that would not usually be used are activated to enable functioning
-creates 2 structural changes in the brain

67
Q

what is axonal sprouting

A

growth of new nerve endings which connect with other undamaged nerve cells to form new neural pathways

68
Q

what is recruitment of homologous areas

A

areas from opposite side of the brain take over the function of the damaged area
-eg. If the Broca’s area was damaged on the LH the RH equivalent would carry out its functions

69
Q

what is the acronym for what affects recovery after trauma

A

PAGES

Perseverance
Age
Gender
Education
Stress and alcohol

70
Q

How does perseverance affect recovery after trauma

A

-takes a lot of effort to recover
-research shows that people may appear to lose function but that it because the person is not trying
-not because of a biological reason

71
Q

How does age affect recovery after trauma

A

younger people are more likely to recover from damage then old indiv.
the deterioration in an old brain affects the extent and speed of recovery

72
Q

How does gender affect recovery after trauma

A

females are more likely to recover than men due to the hemispheres being more strongly connected

73
Q

How does education affect recovery after trauma

A

-schneider found that more time in education the more likely the person is to recover
-40% of people who achieved DFR had more than 16 years of education compared to the 10% who had less than 12 years
-suggests that other factors such as education effect recovery

74
Q

How does stress and alcohol affect recovery after trauma

A

after recovery from trauma it takes a great deal of effort to regain full ability so it can make it more difficult

75
Q

RTS plasticity of the brain

A

-RTS plasticity of the brain comes from Maguire et al who studied the brains of taxi drivers
-found that those who had been taxi drivers for a long time had a greater volume of grey matter in the area responsible for spatial and navigational skills in comparison to those who had only been a taxi driver for a short time
-supports plasticity because it suggests that a change in the structure of the brain was altered by their experience and greater knowledge of the roads

76
Q

RTS plasticity and functional recovery

A

-RTS comes from patient EB
-EB suffered from brain damage that resulted in the removal of his left hemisphere and therefore his language centres
-despite this EB was able to regain some language ability which would not be able to happen if the brain was completely lateralised
-this demonstrates that EB’s brain has experienced recruitment of homologous areas and demonstrates the brain can adapt to produce language even when the LH was non functioning
-therefore supporting the idea of plasticity and functional recovery

77
Q

limitation of RTS plasticity and functional recovery

A

-low population validity
-it is a case study with patient with severe brain damage
-may caused unique changes in the brain that may have influenced the plasticity and functional recovery of the brain
-this limits how well the research can be generalised to the wider population as different genders/ages may experience different levels of plasticity in the brain
-this lowers the external validity of the research into plasticity

78
Q

fMRI AO1

A

-identifies changes in the level of oxygen in the blood that occurs due to brain activity in specific areas
-when a brain area is more active it leads to more oxygen being used so there is an increase of blood flow to this area
-fMRI produces a 3D image showing which part of the brain is active, called an activation map
-used to show localisation of the brain

79
Q

fMRI AO3 strength and weakness

A

-fMRI is safer and non-invasive and doesn’t use radiation to identify the differences in brain area.UNLIKE PET scans which uses radiation.Therefore fMRI is more app technique ti use that can reduce the potential harm to indiv.

-fMRI have higher spatial resolution than EEG AND ERP which is an important feature of brains scans as it can accurately identify specific brain areas involved in behaviour to the mm and a clear image of how the brain is localised
-HOWEVER fMRI has poor temporal resolution as there is around a 5 second lag behind the image of the screen and the initial firing of neural activity.Therefore fMRI’s may not represent moment-to-moment brain activity

80
Q

EEG AO1

A

-electrodes are placed on the scalp using a skull cap
-detect small electrical changed resulting from the activity of the brain cells
-electrical signals are graphed over a period of time to see a person’s general brain activity
-EEG are used to detect sleep patterns
-used as a diagnostic tool to help diagnose conditions such as brain tumours and epilepsy

81
Q

EEG AO3 strength + weakness

A

-high temporal resolution which enables the researcher to take a real time recording of brain activity rather than a still image of the brain, as is the case with the use of an fMRI.Researcher can gain a more accurate measure of the brain in a particular task. Therefore, providing a greater insight into the processes of the brain, increasing its validity as a way of studying the brain.

-However low in spatial resolution, therefore only provides information on general activity in the brain. Cannot pinpoint the exact source of neural activity that is involved in behaviour, unlike the use of ERP which allow a researcher to identify specific brain activity in a particular task. Therefore, findings may be less valuable in developing our understanding than by using alternative ways of scanning the brain such as ERPs.

82
Q

ERP AO1

A

-electrodes are placed on the scalp
-Unlike EEG (which shows general activity) ERP shows specific brain activity as all extraneous brain activity from the original EEG recording is filtered out leaving only those responses that link to the presentation of the stimulus.
-stimulus is presented to a ppt many times and specific electrical responses to that stimulus in the brain are measured
-the readout means that the researcher is able to measure brain function at any given moment
-used to study attention and perception

83
Q

ERP AO3 strength + weaknesses

A

-ERP provide a continuous measure of the brain processing that is being used when presented with a specific stimulus. Which means that it is possible to identify how processing is affected by specific changes. Therefore as ERP is a more specific way of measuring activity it gives a greater insight into the functioning of the brain

-It can be hard to obtain meaningful data from the use of ERP because they can be affected by external factors such as background noise which means that it can take many trials to obtain meaningful data as it hard to control these other factors. This limits the validity of ERPs as a means of studying the brain for a range of brain processes.

84
Q

post mortems AO1

A

-The brain of a dead patient is examined and dissected to see if there are any abnormalities
-The brain can be compared with a brain that does not show this particular abnormality
-It is mainly used on people who have a rare disorder/defects
-One area of research has been the identification of Broca’s area as an important brain areas for language production

85
Q

post mortem AO3

A

-ONLY invasive way to study the brain which means that it is possible to get a more detailed examination of the brain than would be possible through solely using brain scanning techniques such as EEG and ERPs. eg. it has meant researchers have been able to study deeper areas of the brain such as the hypothalamus which has helped understand brain functioning in many different behaviours.

-It is hard to establish cause and effect with post-mortem studies as there are many confounding variables which cannot be easily controlled such age or whether they have received drug treatment for their disorder. Therefore it limits the internal validity of the findings of these studies and therefore the appropriateness of using post- mortems to study the brain.

86
Q

What is a biological rhythm

A

a cycle that produces a change in physiological and psychological processes over a period of time

87
Q

what is a circadian rhythm

A

a cycle that lasts for 24 hours e.g. the sleep wake cycle

88
Q

what is the infradian rhythm

A

a cycle that lasts longer than 24 hours e.g. the female menstrual cycle which operates approximately on a 28 day cycle

89
Q

what is an ultradian rhythm

A

cycle that is less than 24 hours e.g. the stages of sleep which last approximately 90 minutes.

90
Q

circadian rhythm: 24 hour cycle AO1

A
  1. example is the sleep/wake cycle controlled by the master endogenous pacemaker the SCN found in the hypothalamus
    2.our eyes notice a change in light to dark as less light is received from the retina
    3.this sends info to the SCN which stimulates the pineal gland to release melatonin and promote sleep
    4.when our eyes detects light the SCN is reset which maintains the sleep/wake cycle to around 24 hours so we can be in synchrony with the outside world
91
Q

RTS circadian rhythms

A

RTS circadian rhythms was conducted by shiffre
-isolated himself in a cave for 6 months where his biological clock was able to be free running and unaffected by exogenous zeitgebers factors such as clocks
-found that in a few days he had developed a consistent 25 hour cycle and continued to fall asleep and wake up on a regular schedule
-therefore this supports that the sleep wake cycle is a circadian rhythm which is mainly controlled by an endogenous pacemaker the SCN to maintain a circadian rhythm

92
Q

RTS circadian rhythm limitation

A
  • low population validity
    -case study with Siffre as the only participant so it may not be appropriate to generalise findings on the sleep wake cycle beyond Siffre as other people may respond differently
    -For example, older people’s circadian rhythms may be slower and more easily influenced by exogenous zeitgebers, as even in one of Siffre’s later replications he found that his own circadian rhythm had slowed
    -Therefore, lowering the external validity of the research investigating circadian rhythms.
93
Q

further RTS circadian rhythm

A

-However, research has been conducted by Wever who has replicated the research within an underground bunker over 400 times with a total of 447 participants.
-The research found that if a person’s circadian rhythm was left to be free running it would follow a 25-hour cycle
-This supports Siffre’s findings on endogenous factors maintaining circadian rhythms to around a 24 hour cycle
-which suggests that the research and conclusions have good reliability.

94
Q

Menstrual cycle AO1

A

-an endogenous system which typically lasts 28-35 days
-on the first day of the woman’s period the womb lining is shed to the day before her next period
-in the brain the pituitary gland releases FSH which activates the release of oestrogen from the ovaries and causes an egg to mature
-increases of oestrogen increases the level of LH which promotes the release of an egg
-oestrogen develops the lining of the womb and progesterone helps it grow thicker reading the womb for pregnancy
-if pregnancy does not occur the gg is absorbed into the body,the womb lining comes away and leaves the body and the cycle begins again
-mainly an endogenous system that maintains the infradian rhythm but can be affected by exogenous factors such as stress and pheromones

95
Q

RTC infradian rhythms AO3

A

-RTC infradian rhythms such as the menstrual cycle are mainly governed by endogenous systems were conducted by Russell
-asked a sample of women to wear cotton pads under their arm
-the pads were then rubbed on the upper lip of 5 sexually inactive women
-process was repeated daily for 5 months
-they found that 4 out of 5 women had sychned their cycles within day of the day
-suggesting the infradian rhythm of the menstrual cycle can be affected by exogenous factors as well as controlled by endogenous factors which may influence the length of infradian

96
Q

limitation to RTC infradian rhythms AO3

A

-field experiment and so has low control over extraneous variables. The research took part in the participant’s natural environment
-where other exogenous factors, such as light or stress, could also have affected the infradian rhythm
-Therefore it is difficult to establish cause and effect between the influence of pheromones on maintaining an infradian rhythm
-This weakens the importance of exogenous factors in maintaining infradian rhythms.

97
Q

strength of RTC infradian rhythms AO3

A

-One strength of the research is that the findings can be explained by evolutionary psychologists
-It would have been advantageous in our evolutionary past for a social group to synchronise pregnancies so that many women would be breastfeeding at the same time so one mother could take over child caring for an orphaned child
-Therefore, showing how evolutionary theory can explain the reason for exogenous factors influencing infradian rhythms.

98
Q

Ultradian rhythm AO1

A

-one type are the 5 stages of sleep
-cycle lasts 90 minutes and consists of 5 stages and alternates between REM and NREM
-a person can experience up to 5 cycles per night that repeat in a rhythmic pattern
-research using EEG into ultradian rhythms has shown that there are 5 distinct 5 stages to sleep

99
Q

stage 1 and 2 of sleep AO1

A

-light sleep do are easily woken
-stage 2= experience alpha waves
-stage 3= alpha waves continue but there are occasional random changes in pattern called sleep spindles where k complexes form as a reaction to external stimuli

100
Q

stage 3 and 4 AO1

A

-deep sleep
-brain waves are delta waves with a lower frequency and higher amplitude
-difficult to wake someone at this point

101
Q

stage 5 AO1

A

-REM sleep
-the body is paralysed
-brain activity closely resembles that of an awake brain
-brain produces theta waves and the eyes occasionally move around
-dreams are often experienced in this stage. but may also occur in deep sleep

102
Q

strength of ultradian rhythms

A

-practical applications in understanding age related changes in sleep
-found that growth hormone is produced during stage 4 of sleep has been associated with sleep deficit in old age
-research has found that older people experience less stage 4 sleep
-as a result medication and relaxation techniques have been developed to increase stage 4 sleep in older indiv.
-prevent issues associated with old age such as reduced alertness
-therefore research into UR is an important part of applied psychology

103
Q

further strength of Ultradian rhythms

A

-uses scientific methods
-this is because it is based on objective and empirical techniques such as EEGs to measure brain activity
-these scientifically measure the activity of the brain throughout the five stages of sleep to identify the length of the rhythm and how many times the rhythm occurs throughout the duration of sleep
-Thus, psychologists would argue that this increases the overall internal validity of research investigating ultradian rhythms
-therefore raising Psychology’s scientific status

104
Q

limitation to research on Ultradian rhythms

A

-However the research may have low ecological validity
-Research on ultradian rhythms is conducted in an artificial setting and so the sleep experienced by participants in these studies may not reflect their genuine sleep patterns due to the unfamiliar surroundings and because they are attached to electrodes
-This may alter the length of the ultradian rhythm, making it difficult to generalise findings to explain how ultradian rhythms work in real life.

105
Q

Endogenous pacemakers SCN AO1

A
  1. The sleep wake cycle is controlled by the master endogenous pacemaker, the suprachiasmatic nucleus (SCN)
  2. Our eyes notice a change in light as it gets dark and less light is received by the retina
  3. This information is sent to the SCN which stimulates the pineal gland to release melatonin and promote sleep
  4. When our eyes detect light again the SCN is reset which stimulates the SCN and pineal gland,which inhibits the release of melatonin to promote wakefulness.
106
Q

Exogenous zeitgebers AO1

A

-exogenous zeitgebers are external factors which are in our environment which can influence our sleep/wake cycle
-through entrainment, such as light, which suppresses the release of melatonin from the pineal gland, influencing the sleep/wake cycle
-which suggests our sleep/wake cycle is not only influenced by endogenous pacemakers

-Social cues such as meal times and social interaction can also influence our sleep/wake cycle
-making us less alert once we have finished our evening meal.
-Research suggests that adapting to local eating and sleeping times before travelling to a different time zone can prevent jet lag
-suggesting that exogenous zeitgebers can influence the sleep-wake cycle.

107
Q

What happens when the sleep wake cycle is disrupted

A

jet lag or shift work causes:
-Difficulty in sleeping (harder to sleep or falling asleep whilst driving)
-Decreased attention which can lead to accidents
-Digestive problems
-Tiredness and poorer reasoning skills
-Increased anxiety and irritability

108
Q

RTS endogenous pacemakers on the sleep wake cycle

A

-RTS the role of endogenous pacemakers on the sleep wake cycle was conducted by Michel Siffre (1975)
-He lived in a cave isolated from all exogenous zeitgebers e.g. clocks and the light dark cycle for six months
-It was found that within a few days he had developed a consistent 25 hour cycle which supports that circadian rhythms are controlled by an endogenous pacemaker
-This supports the theory that the sleep wake cycle is primarily governed by endogenous pacemakers rather than exogenous zeitgebers.

109
Q

limitation of RTS endogenous pacemakers on the sleep wake cycle

A

-lacks ecological validity as they are highly controlled and do not reflect how endogenous pacemakers and exogenous zeitgebers interact in real life
-Only in exceptional circumstances are endogenous pacemakers free-running and unaffected by the influence of exogenous zeitgebers
-In real-life, pacemakers and zeitgebers work together and it makes little sense to separate the two for the purpose of research
-Therefore, this reduces the external validity of the findings and cannot be generalised to explain how endogenous pacemakers impact the sleep wake cycle in real life

110
Q

RTS the effect of endogenous pacemakers on the sleep/wake cycle

A

-RTS conducted by DeCoursey et al
-destroyed the SCN connections in the brain of 30 chipmunks who were then returned to their natural habitat for 80 days
-sleep/wake cycle of the chipmunks disappeared and by the end of the study a sign. portion of them were killed by predators
-this may be because they were awake and vulnerable to attack when they should be asleep
-this supports the influence and importance of endogenous pacemakers such as the SCN on the maintenance of the sleep wake cycle
-as exogenous zeitgebers alone were not able to maintain the sleep wake cycle of the chipmunks

Paper 2 psych (5 decks)

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