Consciousness and sleep

Question 1

Evolutionary (circadian) theory

Answer 1

Emphasises the relationship of sleep to circadian rhythms. The idea that sleep is adaptive and evolved to enhance survival.
Pros: Accounts for why and when we sleep
Con: Does not account for loss of awareness and alertness during sleep

Question 2

Restoration theory

Answer 2

Sleep is to recover from depleting activities during wake up time that use up the body’s physical and mental resources.
NREM: restores and repairs body (growth and tissue repair)
REM: Restores body and is involved in learning and memory (the consolidation of memory)
REM REBOUND
catching up on REM sleep immediately following a period of lost REM sleep by spending longer in REM sleep than usual next time sleeping.

Pros: Research evidence
Cons: A physically disabled person confined to their bed has a similar sleep cycle to a physically active individual

Question 3

Automatic process

Answer 3

Requires little conscious awareness and mental effort, minimal attention and does not interfere with the performance of other activities

Question 4

Beta brainwaves

Answer 4

High frequency, low amplitude

• Alertness and intensive mental activity during NWC
• Present during states of tension, anxiety, threat and fear

Question 5

Delta brainwaves

Answer 5

Low frequency, high amplitude

• Deep, dreamless sleep or unconsciousness
• Begin to appear in stage 3 of NREM sleep
• Stage 4 - deepest sleep

Question 6

Theta brainwaves

Answer 6

Med frequency, mix of medium, high, and low amplitude

• Very drowsy, falling asleep, just waking
• Awake and engaged in creative activities, excited and deeply meditating

Question 7

Controlled processes

Answer 7

Conscious, alert awareness and mental effort in which the individual focuses their attention on achieving a particular goal

Question 8

Alpha brainwaves

Answer 8

Low to medium frequency, low to medium amplitude

• Awake and alert but mentally and physically relaxed and internally focused
• Drowsy or relaxed state, just prior to falling asleep

Question 9

Selective attention

Answer 9

Choosing and attending to a specific stimulus to the exclusion of others

Question 10

Daydreaming as an altered state of consciousness

Answer 10

A temporary change in one’s normal state

A temporary shift on the consciousness continuum

Question 11

Divided attention

Answer 11

Ability to distribute our attention and undertake two or more activities simultaneously

Question 12

EOG

Answer 12

Electro-occulargraph
Measures eye movement by detecting, amplifies and recording electrical activity in eye muscles that control eye movements

Question 13

EMG

Answer 13

Electromyograph

Detects, amplifies and records the electrical activity of muscles

Question 14

EEG

Answer 14

Electroencepholograph

Detects, amplifies and records patterns of electrical activity in the brain

Question 15

Circadian rhythm

Answer 15

Changes in bodily functions and activities during a cycle of 24 hours
Area of the hypothalamus - the suprachiasmatic nucleus - is called the ‘master’ biological clock. It regulates timing and activity of the sleep wake cycle.
The brain induces sleep by alerting the pituitary gland to secrete melatonin until exposed to light stimulus

Question 16

Ultradian rhythm

Answer 16

Changes in bodily functions and activities during a cycle of less than 24 hours

Question 17

Psychological construct

Answer 17

Cannot be directly observed eg) consciousness

Question 18

Self reports

Answer 18

Written or spoken responses to questions, statements or instructions

Question 19

Sleep diary

Answer 19

A self recorded report of an individuals sleep and waking time activities

Question 20

Video monitoring

Answer 20

Recording of externally observable physiological responses during a sleep episode

Question 21

Methods to study consciousness

Answer 21

EEG, EMG, EOG, self reports, sleep diaries, video monitoring

Question 22

Infant’s sleep

Answer 22

Sleep duration = irregular
Fewer sleep cycles but cyclic alternation of NREM-REM sleep is present
REM sleep = restless, may contain movement
Sleep onset occurs through REM
Proportion of REM sleep is relatively high

Question 23

Young children

Answer 23

Total sleep time decreases as kid gets older
REM sleep decreases, NREM increases
Slow wave deep sleep is quantitatively and qualitatively different from adults

Question 24

Adolescents

Answer 24

Total sleep time decreases, REM sleep too
NREM = 3 +4 stages decline and 2 increases
Slow wave deep sleep decreases more

Question 25

Adults

Answer 25

Sleep appreciably less
Average 8 hours
Decline in duration of sleep episode and in REM and NREM sleep
Stages 3+4 eventually disappear

Question 26

Alcohol and sleep deprivation

Answer 26

After sleep deprivation, performance on cognitive tasks decreased to a level equivalent to a person under the influence of alcohol

Performance on tasks tended to decrease

Influence mood states, cranky, interfere with ability to think clearly

Question 27

Sleep wake shifts in adolescence

Answer 27

Timing of melatonin secretion peaks later (1 to 2 hours)
Results in a delayed seep onset, sleep wake cycle shift
Psychological and social factors may influence sleep habits

Question 28

Dysomnias

Answer 28

Problems with sleep wake cycle processes, difficulty falling or staying asleep, inability to prevent sleep onset, a disruption to the timing of the circadian sleep wake cycle

I.e. sleep-onset insomnia
Persistent difficulty falling asleep at the usual time

Question 29

Parasomnia

Answer 29

Inappropriate disruption of sleep by some abnormal sleep-related event

i.e. sleepwalking
Getting up from bed and walking about or performing other behaviours while asleep
During NREM 3_$

Question 30

Partial sleep deprivation

Answer 30

A state caused by inadequate quantity or quality of sleep, voluntarily or involuntarily. Having less sleep than what is normal required

Question 31

Partial sleep deprivation

Affective

Answer 31

Emotional response threshold is lowered, emotional reactivity, can cause overreacting

Compromise brain’s ability to process emotional information

Question 32

Partial sleep deprivation

Behavioural

Answer 32

May lead to involuntary lapses into sleep called microsleeps

Reduces efficiency, tend to take longer to finish tasks, slower reaction times, more mistakes

Question 33

Partial sleep deprivation

Cognitive

Answer 33

Reduce alertness and ability to stay focused on task

Errors are more likely when a task lacks interest or complexity

Question 34

CBT

Answer 34

Aims to find solutions on how to change a person’s current thoughts and behaviours so they can function better now and in the future

Cognitive - assists the individual to recognise and change inappropriate or dysfunctional attitudes, beliefs and other thoughts about their sleep

Behavioural - helps the individual develop good sleep habits to avoid behaviours that prevent them from sleeping well

Question 35

Bright light therapy

Answer 35

To treat circadian phase disorders

Involves timed exposure of the eyes to intense but safe amounts of light

Question 36

Circadian rhythm phase disorders

Answer 36

Group of sleep disorders involving sleep disruption that is primarily due to a mismatch between an individual’s sleep-wake pattern and the pattern that is desired or required