Methods of Studying Consciousness Flashcards
What is the EMG?
- Electromyogram
- a device which detects, amplifies and records the electrical activity of muscles.
What is the EOG?
- Electro-oculargram
- a device which detects, amplifies and records electrical activity associated with the muscles surrounding the eye.
What is an EEG?
- Electroencephalogram
- a device that detects, amplifies and records electrical activity in the brain in the form of brain waves.
Define amplitude
- the height of the peaks and troughs of the curved graph that represents brain wave activity.
- Intensity and height of brainwaves
- Low amplitude = shorter and smaller waves
What are Sawtooth waves?
- random, fast waves that are slightly bigger than alpha waves
- resembling waves for being awake
- occur amongst beta-like waves during REM sleep
- associated with dreaming.
What is frequency?
- number of brainwaves per second.
- Low Frequency = slow brainwave activity
What are K-complexes?
- brain wave patterns that consist of a sharp rise and fall in amplitude
- lasting around two seconds on the EEG.
- A typical characteristic of stage 2 NREM sleep
- occurring usually once a minute
- can be triggered by external stimuli.
What are sleep spindles?
- periodic brainwave patterns consisting of rapid bursts of high frequency
- associated with stage 2 NREM sleep
- can be found in stage 3&4 NREM sleep.
polysomnogram
- continuous moving chart that displays data
- collected simultaneously from EEG, EOG, EMG and other devices
Other Measurements: Heart Rate (ECG/EKG)
- Electrocardiograph
- Detects, amplifies and records the electrical activity of the heart muscles
- Heart rate measured in beats per minute
Other measurements: Body Temperature
- body temperature tends to peak in the mid-afternoon
- lowest temperature is the early hours of the morning
- temperature linked to alertness
Other measurements: Galvanic Skin Response (GSR)
- Galvanic Skin response
- detects, amplifies and records the electrical conductivity of the skin
- as skin becomes more moist (through perspiration), the electrical conductivity increases
Physiological measurement
- the observation of a measurable bodily (physical or physiological) response
Physiological response
a physical change in the body in response to a change in consciousness
Sleep Laboratories
- a place used for scientific research on sleep
- Usually resembling a bed room
- researcher can control environmental aspects
Sleep Laboratories Advantages and disadvantages
Disadvantages:
- artificial environment: participant must be able to sleep in environment that is unfamiliar and contrived
- sleep may be deliberately interrupted, causing interferences with normal sleep cycle
- participants hard to find: study considered an invasion of privacy
- new technology still limits researchers on what they understand about sleep as it can’t reveal what participants feelings, thoughts and perceptions are
Advantages
- does not require equipment to be moved o different participant homes
- allows brainwave activity and physiological effects to be monitored in a controlled environment
Video monitoring
- A common method used at home and in sleep Labs
- uses infrared cameras operating silently to record footage of sleep, in the dark without disturbing the participant
Advantages and disadvantages of Video monitoring
Advantages
- does not disturb the participants sleep cycle
- easier to study sleep (turning over and sleep walking in which stages)
- footage able to be viewed after the period of sleep and viewed by other researchers
- Researcher not required to stay overnight
Disadvantages
- cannot tell what is going on inside the body or what the participant is experiencing
- findings may be subjective (open to bias)
Self reports
- statements and answers to questions made by the participants concerning their thoughts and feelings
Advantages and disadvantages of Self reports
Advantages
- provides extremely valuable details about what the participant is experiencing
Disadvantages
- difficult to communicate and compare with others
- will participant remember to complete report
- accuracy
- will participants tell the truth
- memory can be faulty
- unintentionally leaving out information
- is the researcher able to interpret descriptions accurately and reliably. Difficult to intemperate self-reports objectivley
