Dement and Kleitman's biological core study on sleep and dreams

Question 1

Outline 2 assumptions from the biological approach

Answer 1

• Our thoughts, behaviours, and emotions are a result of how our brain works, as well as gentics, hormones, and evolutions
• Similarities and differences between people are due to biological factors and their interaction with other factors.

Question 2

An example of vertical eye movement

Answer 2

• playing basketball, shooting at the net and looking up to see if he scored and down to pick up ball

Question 3

an example of horizontal eye movement

Answer 3

only one and was about people throwing tomatos at each other

Question 4

and example of staionary eye movement

Answer 4

eyes fixed on somethings or watching in the distance and made sudden movment to the left before wake up.
- driving and a pedestrian on the left how hailed him

Question 5

Explain why this study is from the biological approach.

Answer 5

Dement was using an EEG / measured brain activity (1 mark) to investigate how it is connected to stages of sleep / REM and nREM (1 mark). This shows how our dreams are a direct result of how our brain works during sleep stages.

Question 6

The psychology that is being investigated

3 points

Answer 6

• Investigated the physiological and psychological aspects of sleep, particularly focusing on REM stage, sleep in relation to dreaming.
• Understand the nature of dreams and if REM eye movements correlate with dreams content and duration.

As well as understanding ultradian rhythms particularly the REM cycle that occurs multiple times a night.

Question 7

The background

Answer 7

Used EEG to measure brain waves and EOG to measure eye movements and patterns. Prior to this technology sleep and dreams was difficult to investigate since participants need to be asleep and could not communicate with researcher.

Question 8

The aims

Answer 8

To investigate the relationship between eye movements in sleep and the dream recall,
1. Test weather dream recall differs between REM & nREM sleep
2. Investigate whether there is a positive correlation between subjective estimate of dream duration and the length of the REM period
3. Whether eye-movement patterns are related to dream content

Question 9

How did researchers test dream recall between REM & nREM sleep?

Answer 9

• Participants were woken in either REM or nREM but not told which.
• Confirmed if they had been dreaming…if so would describe content into recorder

Question 10

How did researcher investigate weather there was a positive correlation between subjective estimates of dream duration and length of REM period?

Answer 10

• Participants were woken either 5 or 15 in REM Sleep
• Asked if they had dreamt for 5 or 15 mts. (gave dream content and words of narrative was counted)

Question 11

How did researches investigate weather eye movements patterns related to dream content?

Answer 11

• Direction of eye movements was detected using the EOG
• After participant exhibited a single eye movement for longer than 1 min they were woken
• Asked to report their dream

Question 12

Describe the procedure in study 1

Answer 12

• natural experiment in a laboratory setting
• Participants arrived at the laboratory and were asked to sleep in a dark quiet room with electrode wire tied in a ponytail over their heads
• participants were woken during a REM or an NREM stage, they were asked to recall their dream.
• All participants were woken by a doorbell noise and spoke into a voice recorder on the side of their bed

Question 13

Describe the procedure in study 2

Answer 13

• participants were woken after 5 or 15 minutes of a REM cycle
• were asked to state how long they had been dreaming for.

Question 14

Describe the procedure in study 3

Answer 14

• participants eye movement patterns were monitored through and EOG,
• after vertical or horizontal patterns were recognizedthe participant was woken and asked the content of their dream.

Question 15

The procedures

Answer 15

• spent between 6-17 nightw and tested with 50-77 awakenings
• Participants reported to the lab before their personal bedtime.
• They ate their normal diet but were asked to avoid caffeine (alertness) and alcohol (drowsiness) on the day of the study.
• They slept in a dark, quiet room. They had 2 EOG electrodes near their eye and 2/3 EEG electrodes to the scalp. Carefully arranged to avoid tangling and to allow the subjects a comfortable range of movement during sleep.
• A doorbell (for standardisation) had been used to wake participants up at random from REM or NREM.
• All participants were woken up when an eye movement pattern lasted for at least a minute.
• Everyone returned to sleep in less than 5 minutes.

Question 16

How were dreams operatonalized?

Answer 16

• only considered a dream if there was a coherent, fairly detailed description of the content.
• Vague, fragmentary impressions were not scored as dreams.

Question 17

What did the EEG measure?

Answer 17

brain activity

Question 18

What did the EOG measure?

Answer 18

eye movements

Question 19

The research method used

Answer 19

a laboratory-based experimental method
(focusing primarily on physiological measures such as brain waves and eye movements.)

Question 20

The number of participants and where they were from

Answer 20

• 9 adults
• 7 males
• 2 females.
• 5 were studied intensivly while other 4 used for validation purpose

Question 21

The sampling method used

Answer 21

Opportunity sampling

Question 22

The experimental design used

Answer 22

Repeated mesures

Question 23

The controls used

Answer 23

• Subjects were required to abstain from substances that could affect sleep (alochol and caffine)
• environment was carefully regulated to be quiet and dark

Question 24

Types of questions asked

Answer 24

Semi-Structured accepting vague terms
Sometimes researcher came into room to ask questions after recorded dream discription

Question 25

Data collection method used

Answer 25

Quantitative data

• was known from the EEG, when a participant entered
  REM or NREM sleep and for how long a participant had been in a particular stage.
• The direction of eye movements.

Qualitative data

• Partipant who spoke into the recording device
• was the recall of a dream (or not),
• the estimated duration (5 or 15 mins)
• content (such as throwing tomatoes).

Question 26

Independent and dependent variables used

Answer 26

IV

• When particapent was woken up: (nREM or REM) or (after 5 mins or 15 mins)
• eye-movement pattern type

DV

• Dreams recalled
• estimated of dream length
• report of dream content

Question 27

Ethical issues

Answer 27

Strength

• particpants were referred to by initials and therefore identities remained anonymous

Weakness

• disruption of natural sleep patterns raises concerns about the well-being and informed consent of the participants, as sleep is vital for health and cognitive function, and participants might not have been fully aware of the potential consequences of sleep interruption.

Question 28

Outline particpants WD ethical weakness

Answer 28

• WD being woken up in the wrong sleep stage can cause distress as they’d try recalling dreams harder.
• Context: Participant WD had been told they’d be woken up in their REM stage of sleep, but was actually woken up randomly during their REM or NREM stages of sleep.

Question 29

Results study 3

Quantitative/qualitative data & how it is represented and interpeted

Answer 29

• vertical and horizontal eye movement patterns were linked to a matching narrative
• 3 of 9 participants showed periods of vertical movements, and each was allied to a narrative about vertical movement.

Question 30

Results study 1

Quantitative/qualitative data & how it is represented and interpeted

Answer 30

• vivid dreams are only reported when woken from REM sleep, or shortly after a REM cycle.
• during nREM feeling were desrcibed rather then specific dream content
• Dream recall shortly after REM was 29% while after 8 mins 5%

Question 31

Results study 2

Quantitative/qualitative data & how it is represented and interpeted

Answer 31

• Participants’ responses were 88% accurate for 5-minute REM duration and 78% accurate for 15-minute REM duration.
• most participants were highly accurate, only with 0-3 incorrect responses, except for DN, who frequently could not recall the end of his dream

Question 32

Conclusion drawn

Answer 32

• Dreams are not instantaneous, but rather occur in “real time”
• Eye movements are not randomly caused by the activation of the central nervous system, but are directly related to dream imagery

Question 33

Strengths
Methodological issues:

Reserach method, reliabilty,validty,generalibily,& control of variables

Answer 33

• The study was reliable as standardised procedures like waking the particpants up with a doorbell were used, therfore it can be easily replicated for reliabilty
• Many controls so confidednce in the IV directly impacting DV as all slept in quiet room and not allowed to drink caffine or alcholo

Question 34

differnce between experimental design and experimental method

Answer 34

design is how they choose to allocate particpants independent measures, repeated measure, matched pairs
experiment method is lab, field, or case

Question 35

Weakness
Methodological Issues

Reserach method, reliabilty,validty,generalibily,& control of variables

Answer 35

• sleep in an unusual environment hence the study lacks ecological validity. This is because the participants had to sleep in a laboratory attached to an EEG machine which is an artificial setting
• participants aren’t task they do in their daily life and hence this study has a low mundane realism. This is because the participants were woken up to the sound of a doorbell and asked to recall any dream

Question 36

Everyday Life

The issues of application of psychology and how it realtes to the study

Answer 36

The findings of this study could be used for treating or checking for sleep disorders. A person compalining of poor sleep could come into a labortory and be hooked up to an EGG. Brain waves could be monitered to see if they are typical or atypical

Question 37

Individual and Situational explanations debate

how it realtes to the study

Answer 37

Individual

• Supported by particapants different succeses
• Could come down to memory
• DN repeadily underestimated his sleep duration

Situational

• Supported by particapants being in labortary setting
• Caused strange dream of a tomato fight

Question 38

Nature vs. Nurture Debate

how it realtes to the study

Answer 38

Nature

• The experince of REM and nREM are universal
• The majority of dreaming occured in REM sleep

Enviromental factors

• Some particapants had disrubted sleep, in a possible uncomfortable enviorment
• Envirmental factos can also affective sleep paterns