eval ultraraidna Flashcards
The sleep lab
One of the benefits of conducting studies of sleep in lab settings (such as the Tucker et al. study), is the control of extraneous variables. This means that a researcher can exclude temporary variables such as noise or temperature that may affect sleep. This ensures that internal validity within such studies is high enabling us to be more confident of causal effects.
However, lab studies involve being attached to complicated machinery. This may be invasive for the participants, leading them to sleep in a way that does not represent their ordinary sleep patterns. As a consequence, the data obtained from controlled lab studies may lack external validity when compared to sleep in an everyday context.
This dilemma means it might be best to conduct some studies in people’s own homes and compare patterns with recordings made in lab settings.
Improved understanding
One strength of research into ultradian rhythms is that it has improved understanding of age-related changes in sleep.
Sleep scientists have observed that SWS reduces with age. Growth hormone is mostly produced during SWS therefore this is reduced in older people. According to Eve van Cauter et al. (2000), the resulting sleep deficit may explain various issues in old age, such as reduced alertness. In order to increase SWS, relaxation and medication may be used.
This suggests that knowledge of ultradian rhythms has practical value.
Individual differences
One limitation of ultradian rhythms research is there is significant variation between people.
Adrienne Tucker et al. (2007) found large differences between participants in terms of the duration of each sleep stage, particularly stages 3 and 4. Tucker et al. suggest that these differences are likely to be biologically determined.
