Psychology PY4 - Theories Of Sleep

Question 1

Who did Shapiro (1981) study and what did he find?

Answer 1

Ultra-marathon runners who had completed a 57 mile run. He found that they slept for 90 minutes loner than usual for the next two night. REM sleep decreased whilst whilst stage 4 of SWS increased from 25% of nights sleep to 45%

Question 2

What does the restoration theory believe?

Answer 2

This theory believe that sleep has a restorative function on the brain and body, ‘repairing’ them back to a normal, healthy state.

Question 3

What do the evolutionary theories of sleep believe?

Answer 3

These theories believe that sleep is a product of evolution and its job is simply one of increasing chances of survival

Question 4

What does the energy conservation theory believe?

Answer 4

The faster an animal burns energy the more sleep it needs. So smaller animals with higher metabolisms will need more sleep.

Question 5

What does the foraging requirements theory believe

Answer 5

That some animals have generally poor diets so they will need more sleep to make up for energy lost.

Question 6

What does the predator avoidance theory believe?

Answer 6

That animals may sled when predators are most active to stay out of the way.

Question 7

What does the evolutionary theory of sleep not explain?

Answer 7

Why we suffer psychological problems when deprived of sleep and his Rechtschaffen found that some animals die without it.

Question 8

How does the evolutionary theory contradict its self

Answer 8

as some evolutionary theories suggest that animals who are highly preyed upon don’t sleep as much as to stay alert for predators and others suggest that they need to sleep more to stay out of the way of predators.

Question 9

What did Oswald (1966) suggest that sleep does? (Restoration theory)

Answer 9

Restores depleted resources of energy, removes waste from muscles and repairs cells