sleep and dreaming Flashcards
what are the four functions of sleep
emotional stability
safety
healthy brain
physical repair
how does sleep help an individuals emotional stability
- allows the brain chemicals that effect peoples moods to balance
- allow to wake up alert and energised
- strong link between sleep and happiness
- more sleep = less of the hormone cortisol feeling more calm and relaxed
how does sleep help individuals safety
- when we are asleep we make little movement and therefore hard to see
- we are more vulnerable in the dark
how does sleep help individuals physical repair
-deep sleep can trigger the release of growth hormones
- immune system activity increases killing bacteria
- helps balance hormones (hunger)
- slow wave sleep helps heal cells
how does sleep help individuals maintain a healthy brain
- allows body to clear out toxins as the space between cells increase
- help consolidate memories
- decisions are made when asleep
- resetting of synaptic activity
how many stages of sleep are there and what are they split into
4 (NREM) + REM
how long does a normal sleep cycle take
around 90 minutes
what is the brain activity, features of sleep and percentage spent in stage one of sleep
- alpha waves - more synchronised and slower
- light, drowsy sleep, stirred easily, sudden muscle spasms make it feel like dropping, slow eye movement
- 10%
what is the brain activity, features of sleep and percentage spent in stage two of sleep
- theta waves, occasional burst of rapid brain waves
- eye movement stops, loose conscious awareness
- 50%`
what is the brain activity, features of sleep and percentage spent in stage three and four
- delta waves - slow brain waves
- deep sleep, no eye movement or muscle movement, growth hormones release for physical repair
- 20%
what is the brain activity, features of sleep and percentage spent in stage five sleep
(REM)
- fast brain waves, similar to when awake
- eyes move rapidly, irregular breathing, limb muscles are temporarily paralysed, heart rate and body temp increases, where dreams occur
- 20%
roughly how many intervals of REM sleep do we get a night
3-5
what is sleep onset insomnia
struggle falling asleep
what is sleep maintenance insomnia
struggle staying asleep
what are some possible causes of sleep onset insomnia
- on going anxiety - release of the stress hormone
- too much caffeine
- eating a heavy meal too close to bed
- playing computer games too close to bed
- physical pain
what are some possible causes of sleep maintenance insomnia
- depression
- drinking alcohol
- sharing a bed or room with someone who snores
- menopause
what are endogenous pacemakers
internal cues
what are exogenous zeitgebers
external cues
what do both endogenous pacemakers and exogenous zeitgebers help do
regulate biological rhythms
explain how light ( an exogenous zeitgebers) can effect sleep
light hits the retina in the eye and a signal is sent to the SCN where it communicated with the pineal gland. here it is told to reduce the production of the hormone melatonin will in turn keep us more awake
who is Freud and when was he born
founding father of psychology 1856-1939
define the Freudian theory
a theory that looks at behaviour as a product of the dynamics of different parts of personality
define the unconscious mind
the part of the mind that people are not aware of but still holds thoughts and memories, it also effects our behaviour
define repression and what is it an example of
the process of pushing unpleasant thoughts and experiences into the unconscious mind - a defence mechanism
define wish fulfilment
dreaming about things that we secretly desire allowing us to release some anxiety around the hidden desire
what is manifest content
actual content of the dream
what is latent content
underlying meaning of the dream
what is the Id, ego and superego
id - instincts
ego - reality
superego - morality
define the Id
the repression of natural urges, the id is part of our unconscious mind and often according to Freud the urges are released into dreams
what are some criticisms of Frauds theory
- too subjective and dreams are very open to interpretation, its also very complex
- difficult to test as it is our unconscious mind it cannot be observed or asked about
- lacked population validity
- outdated
- sexist
what is determinism
the idea that how we think and our behaviour is determined by outside forces eg: our genetics, environment, upbringing
what is reductionism
reducing down to one component - being too simplistic
who is wolfman
Sergei - Russian man whose dad and sister committed suicide when he was younger, he developed depression and began to have the same reoccurring dream, he then went to Freud to see if he could get help
- suffered from neurosis as a child
outline the reoccurring dream the Wolfman had
he dreamt that he was asleep in bed which was next to a window where outside there was a large tree. suddenly the windows opened and he saw a number of WHITE wolves sitting in the tree. the wolves had big tails like foxes and their ears were pricked up. in fear of being gobbled up he screamed and woke up
according to Freud, what was the primal act
Sergei witnessed his parents having sex at a very young age
what were the six pieces of manifest content that Freud claimed was in Sergei’s dream
- being watched by the wolves
- the tree
- whiteness of the wolves
- wolves being in a tree
- fearing the wolves would eat him
- wolves having big tails
what is the latent content for the manifest content “being watched by the wolves”
a reversal of the boy watching the sex act with the wolf symbolising his father
what is the latent content for the manifest content “the tree”
a Christmas tree as it was Christmas time when he dreamt it
what is the latent content for the manifest content “whiteness of the wolves”
parents white bed linen and bed clothes
what is the latent content for the manifest content “wolves being in a tree”
Sergei had an unconscious desire to have sex with his father but then realising that his mother must have been castrated by his father during sex as she had no penis so he became frightened of his fathers power and fears of being castrated too
what is the latent content for the manifest content “fearing the wolves would eat him”
being eaten = being castrated
what is the latent content for the manifest content “wolves having big tails”
tail = large penis, a threat to the boy
what type of study was it and what was the sample
longitudinal case study for 4 years of Sergei (the wolfman for protection)
what were the conclusions of the Wolfman study
- the unconscious mind can have a significant impact on behaviour
- traumatic events can be suppressed into the unconscious mind
- repressed memories can be projected to the conscious
what were some criticisms of the Wolfman’s study
- very subjective ( someone else may have interpreted the dream differently)
- not generalisable
- lacks ecological validity
- not scientific
- no evidence
outline the process of the activation synthesis theory
- brain activity changes dramatically just before and during REM sleep
- these electrical signals become faster, originating in the pons
- these signals go to the limbic system and then the occipital lobe
- these spikes of electrical signals activate the cells in the cerebral cortex
- the brain tries make sense of the information by synthesising the information using past memories
what is the cerebral cortex
the outer layer of the brain - the lobes
what relation does the limbic system have to the activation synthesis theory of dreaming
reason why dreams are emotional
what relation does the occipital lobe have to the activation synthesis theory of dreaming
reason why we are able to visualise dreams
what are two criticisms of the activation synthesis theory
1 - considered too reductionist as dreams are highly complex and difficult to reduce this down to one neural process
2 - ignore individual differences and cant be generalised as some people have damage to the brain stem and are still able to dream even through the brain stem is where some electrical impulses originate from
what is the name of the study that provides proof for the activation synthesis theory
Williams et all - study into the bizarreness of dreams and fantasies
what was the hypothesis for Williams et al’s study into the bizarreness of dreams
bizarreness is more prevalent in dreams than it is in a wake - state fantasy
what was the sample of Williams et al bizarreness study and method used to gain this sample
10 females and 2 males from Harvard university, self report sample method
what was the procedure of William et al study
during a term students were asked to record any dreams remembered from the night and any daytime fantasies in a journal
how many dreams and fantasies were selected from journals in Williams study
60 dreams and 60 fantasies
what did the researchers select the journals on the basis on
- length of the dream description
- the amount of image description in the dream or fantasy
how were bizarreness of dreams rated in Williams study
ranked on a scale of one to ten
what were the findings of Williams et al study
judges agreed about 80% of the time
dreams reports were significantly longer than fantasy
dreams were scored higher than fantasies
what are some criticisms of Williams et al study
lack of control over environments as people could have altered them to prevent embarrassment
sample is not generalisable as it was too small
self report is unreliable - relies on people memory
lacks construct validity - qualitative data turned into quantatvie data
what are some reasons there may be damage to the hypothalamus
- surgery
- old age
- disease
- tumour
- trauma (stroke)
what can damage to the hypothalamus result in
insomnia as the SCN isn’t telling the pineal gland to release melatonin
what are the three treatments of insomnia
drug therapy
relaxation techniques
sleep hygiene
how can drug therapy help treat insomnia
taking drugs that contain melatonin can help replace the melatonin that isn’t being released by the hypothalamus
why is drug therapy not used long term
- the brain needs to be retrained in order to release its own melatonin again
what are the three relaxation techniques that help insomnia
clearing the mind - writing down fears and worries in a journal
deep breathing - holding breath in for certain period of time and breathing slowly out
relieving the tension in body - relaxing all the muscles in the body
what are the two types of sleep hygiene
clearing up their lives
clearing up their environment
give two ways people can clear up their lives to help their sleep hygiene
reduce alcohol intake
avoid eating large meals before bed
avoid taking naps
regular exercise
expose yourself to enough natural daylight
give two ways people can clear up their environment to help their sleep hygiene
dark bedroom
not too warm or cold
bed should be comfy
decluttered room
phones and screens off
clocks face away
