Evolutionary Perspectives On Dreaming Flashcards

Question

Transfer of learning to waking life

Answer 1

Mental training Implicit learning & implicit memory

Answer 2

People remember when they dream (lucid dreaming) ``` Finger tapping sequence task- 20% increase 17% in physical practice 12% in mental practice 5% control ```

Answer 3

Coin tossing Dart throwing Balancing on one leg

Answer 4

Original environment humans lived in included frequent dangerous events Ecologically valid threat cues in the human ancestral environment fully activated the threat simulations system Recurring realistic threat simulations led to improved threat perception & avoidance skills & therefore increased the probability of succesfull reproduction of any given individual Consequently the TSS was selected for during our evolutionary system

Answer 5

Dreaming has been selected by evolution because it enhances survival for a more abstract reason Dreaming reflects a basic more general process- inference generation - not replay of remembered experience. No identifiable mnemonic - dream synthesis suggests a predictive creative role for dreaming Features noted- - dreaming is vivid with detailed perceptions - narrower range & a greater depth of emotion - movement is imagined but not actually acted out

Answer 6

The brain is an organ of interference The perceptual world is both too detailed & too under specified Brain generates models of the world Both dreams & the everyday phenomenal world may be thought of as constructed virtual realities It is the same inferential system that generates our perception of the real world & generates the dream world

Answer 7

Perhaps not threat rehearsal but evolution has shaped the brain to produce models of the world Construct models of the perceptual world

Answer 8

Dreaming allows the optimising of generative models during sleep A basic, fundamental process essential to survival Needed to see, to understand, to anticipate, to make sense of sensory stimuli In sleep, the brain is free from having to process sensory input This is necessary for model optimisation, during which the brain can rehearse fictitious scenarios that may or may not be encountered in waking

Answer 9

Prior beliefs are combined with sensory evidence to produce a posterior belief Effective prediction requires the updating of expectations about hidden states of the world generating sensory data This updating is driven by sensory info that can not be explained by current expectations/beliefs Striving for accurate models of how the world works

Answer 10

Need a model that makes few errors in prediction but also that is very simple ‘there is an imperative to minimise the complexity of VR models to maximise their evidence” ‘The function of complexity minimisation is to ensure that the model can generalise’ detailed models predict very well but are limited to specific cases Dreaming may prepare the brain for the unpredictable diversity of scenarios it encounters during waking It refines & develops a model that can generalise to the diversity of sensory scenarios are encountered during waking

Answer 11

Sleep is an optimisation process that becomes visible when we fall asleep & sensory processing element is less dominant They suggest that sleep is necessary to minimise complexity in order to ensure that our models are optimal during waking The brain needs to be off-line, so that synaptic plasticity & homeostasis can reduce the complexity it has accrued during wakefulness

Answer 12

Model requires maintenance Has to account for vast amount of sensory input during waking & can only do this if it generalises to every context encountered This generalisation rests upon minimising model complexity This happens during dreams, which we witness Simplifying models of the world that can be used to make inferences in the future

Answer 13

Necessary function for why we dream Contrasts with brain stem theories which see dreaming as a random by-product of brain activation Whether there is any function to awareness of dream content is disputed

Answer 14

Even if evolution has led to dreaming, might natural selection have chosen some other mental ability where dreaming is just an incidental side-show Much like side effect/by-product explanations Not all firms & functions are a direct product of natural selection

Answer 15

Dreaming may be a by-product of imaginative waking cognitive capacities that turned out to have great adaptive value

Answer 16

Seen when fMRI brain scans are done A set of brain areas that activate at the same time whenever ‘not otherwise employed’ I.e. when not being asked to do a task in a fMRI scanner

Answer 17

There is a considerable overlap with the default network & the brain areas active during REM sleep (dreaming) They are the areas whose damage affect dreaming The areas that they do not include are also areas where damage does not affect dreaming Perhaps dreaming is simply activity of the default network

Answer 18

Considerable overlap with areas activated by- - vivid recall of recent real autobiographical memories - vivid recall of previously created imaginary experiences Imagined experiences were associated with increased activity in many of the same brain areas- the imagination network Considerable overlap in the brain areas activated when with mind wandering & with experimental self (stories of what happen to us to who we are), self reflection, self criticism, rumination, thinking about what others think- perspective taking Dreaming is the imagination wandering freely, powered by embodies simulation

Answer 19

Enables the internal rehearsal of events or scenes- creating a setting in which a simulated event can unfold whether past, present, future or hypothetical The ability to pre-experience hypothetical events confers an evolutionary advantage in planning for the future So dreaming is a by-product of evolutionary selection for the default network, which makes it possible to think about the past & prepare for the future The ability does not depend on or need dreaming, it is the default network active during sleep

Answer 20

Consistent with continuity hypothesis that dreaming reflects waking life experiences (continuum between waking experiences & experiences within dreams) Dreams are mostly about everyday waking themes & by ages 11-13 they very often dramatise personal concerns relating to important people & avocations in the dreamers life There is consistency in dream content over months, years, decades in terms of major characters, interests/hobbies & types of frustrating situations There is a continuity between elements of dream content & waking conceptions

Answer 21

The key cognitive process in dreaming is simulation, a particular kind of subset of thinking that involves imaginatively placing oneself in a hypothetical scenario & exploring possible outcomes Embodies simulation is supported by the activated secondary sensory & sensorimotor areas in the default network, which support all forms of mental imagery

Answer 22

With the occlusion of external stimuli during long periods of drifting waking thought That enable the full sensory motor realism to exist as it is implemented in secondary sensory cortices

Answer 23

Not all forms & functions are a direct product of natural selection Even if evolution has led to dreaming, natural selection may have chosen some other mental ability such as the imagination network where dreaming is just one manifestation? It is not key or unique Much like side-effect/by-product explanations