circadian rhythms

Question 1

what are circadian rhythms?

Answer 1

• 24 hour cycle of biological rhythms
• eg sleep wake cycle

Question 2

what research support is there?

Answer 2

• Siffre cave study
• deprived of natural light exposure and sound but had access to food and drink
• after 2 months thought year passed
• his ‘free running’ sleep/wake cycle settled to run at around 25 hours + maintained regular sleep schedule

Question 3

what does the research support tell us about circadian rhythms?

Answer 3

• consistent regular 25 hour cycle
• but hasnt got normal 24 hour cycle
• biological rhythms controlled by EPs + interaction between the two

Question 4

issues with the research support study?

Answer 4

• individual differences
• unique case study=ungeneralisable
• bias- same person
• experience- food was delivered, light could have got through, artifical light

Question 5

how does body temperature run on a cirdian rhythm?

Answer 5

• body temperature lowest at 4:30am
• body temperature highest at 7am
• best conditions for sleep= cool room + cool body temperature

Question 6

what real world applications does circadian rhythms have?

Answer 6

• shift work
• helps us understand the consequences that occur when circadian rhythms are disrupted
• Knutazon- theres relationship between shft work and ill health, 3x more likely develop heart disease due to stress of adjusting to diff sleep/wake

counter-> correlational methods eg Soloman- shift workers have high divorce rates, using correlations assumes cause + effect when could be underlying factors for divorce

Question 7

what real world applications for medical treatment does circadian rhythms have?

Answer 7

• they coordinate number of bodies basic processes like heart rate, hormone levels. research found there are peak times during day/night when drugs are most effective
• treatment can now be administered in a way that corresponds with a persons biological rhythms eg taking aspirin last thing at night is most effective for heart attacks
• improves individuals care + allows NHS workers to provide time best taken

Question 8

how does circadian rhythms ingore individual differences?

Answer 8

• differences in sleep/wake cycle vary from 13 - 65 hours
• some have natural preference for going to bed early + rising early wheras others prefer the opposite. Siffre found when 60yrs his internal clock ticked more slowly than when he was young
• Counter-> use of case studies + small samples. issue bc ppl may not rep wider pop + ungen. difficult to use research for more than averages.