circadian rythm

Question 1

circadian rhythm

what are two types?

Answer 1

rhythms that last around for 24hrs

sleep wake cycle and core body temperature

Question 2

what is sleep wake cycle ?
what is study to support sleep wake cycle

Answer 2

When feeling drowsy at night time and feeling alert during the day demonstrates the effect of daylight - an important exogenous zeitgeber on our sleep wake cycle.

-michel siffre spent several extended periods underground to study the effects of his own biological rhythms

• he was deprived of exposure to natural light and sound but with access to food and drink
• he spent 2 months in the cave and then again 6 months after the first time
• his biological rhythm was just beyond the usual 24hr ( 25hours) though he continued to fall asleep and wake up on regular schedule

Question 3

what is core body temperature?

Answer 3

Evidence suggests that body temperature may have an effect on our mental abilities the warmer we are internally the better cognitive performance is.

Question 4

evaluation

Answer 4

1. practical application to shift work
   - circadian rhythms can give better understanding of adverse consequences as a result of their disruption. for e.g., night workers engage in shift work experience. a period of reduced concentration around 6 in morning meaning mistakes and accidents are more likely (Boivin et al 1996)

Duffy et al. (2001) found that ‘morning people’ prefer to rise and go to bed early (about 6 am and 10 pm) whereas ‘evening people’ prefer to wake and go to bed later (about 10 am and 1 am). This demonstrates that there may be innate individual differences in circadian rhythms.

Study of sleep wake cycle tends to involve small groups of participants for e.g siffre cave study. The people involved might not be representative of the wider population and this limits the extent to which the research can be generalised to the rest of the population.