sleep & dreaming Flashcards
what happens in the brain activity in stage 1
slowing , synchronised alpha waves become theta waves
features of the brain in stage 1 of sleep
- light drowsy sleep
- muscle spasms followed by a sensation
- people do not realise they have been asleep
what happens in stage 2 of the sleep cycle
- eye movement stops
- theta waves become slower with occasional bursts of rapid brain waves
- lose conscious awareness of the outside world
what happen in stage 3&4 of the sleep cycle
- 3: extremely slow delta waves alternate with shorter faster waves
- 4: only delta waves are produced
- features of both :
- stage of deep sleep - difficult to wake someone up
- no eye movement / muscle activity
- more growth hormones are released into the body - helps with physical repair
what happens in the REM stage
- breathing is faster + less regular
- rapid eye movement
- limb muscles are temporarily paralysed
- heart rate increases + blood pressure rises + body temp goes up/down
% of time spent in each sleep cycle stage
1 - 10%
2 - 50%
3 - 10%
4 - 10%
5 - 20%
what are endogenous pacemakers
- internal biological clocks that manage bodily rhythms
what are exogenous zeitgebers
features of the environment that help to manage bodily rhythms , either physical / social
example of exogenous zeitgeber
light
what is the hypothalamus
a part of the brain that controls a number of key bodily functions e.g body temp
what is the role of melatonin
- associated with sleep onset
- natural hormone made by pineal gland
- during the day , the gland is inactive however as night falls , it gets activated by the SCN & starts to produce melatonin , which is released into the blood
- when melatonin levels increase we feel less alert & drowsier & have the urge to sleep
- melatonin levels remain high for approx 12 hours , usually until the start of day
what is sleep onset insomnia
- problems falling asleep
causes of sleep onset insomnia
- too much caffeine / nicotine before going to bed
- eating a heavy meal close to bedtime
- playing computer games close to bedtime
- on going anxiety
what is sleep maintenance insomnia
- disturbed pattern of sleep where a person wakes up regularly
causes of sleep maintenance insomnia
- depression
- drinking alcohol
- menopause (women)
- a central idea of Freudian theory is that the human mind is mainly made up of the ____ ____ - explain this
- he believed that actions do not happen ___
- a central idea of Freudian’s theory is that the human mind is mainly made up of the unconscious mind - part of mind we’re not consciously aware of , but it’s the key drive behind many of our behaviours
- randomly - they are motivated by unconscious urges + desires
what is the id in freuds theory
- large part of unconscious mind is a division of the personality called the id
- primeval & presents all our instinctive urges , especially ones related aggression + sex
- many of these urges are repressed into unconscious mind
- however defence mechanism of repression only works to a certain extent & these urges need to be released , potentially through dreams
Freud believed that dreams act as ____ ______? What is this?
- wish fulfilment
-we dream about the things we secretly desire & privately want to do - releases anxiety
what is the manifest & latent content
- manifest content = actual content of a dream
- latent content = underlying meaning of the dream
criticisms of freuds theory
- too subjective (dream interpretation is open to opinion - different people will have different explanations of a dream)
- difficult to test (concepts aren’t objective enough due to the fact that dreams can’t be easily verified - theory relies on unconscious mind which can’t be observed)
outline the AST
- signals arise from the pons in brain stem & from the neurons that move the eyes + activate the limbic system and occipital lobe
- these signals cause a surge of stimulation through the brain activating the cerebral cortex. This tries to attach meaning to the signals
- in order to synthesise the signals , the brain draws upon stored memories & produces strange images
AST CRITICISM
- reductionist ( too simplistic to try to reduce something as complex as dreams to random electrical activity )
- some continuity to people’s dreams (some people have recurring dreams / dreams with similar patterns , these patterns go against idea of randomness)
William et al aim
- assess the bizarreness of dreams & fantasies to support the AST
Williams et al - design method
- natural experiment comparing dreams + fantasies using self report
Williams et al sample
- 12 Harvard students
- 2 male , 10 female
- age range = 23-45
Williams et al procedure
- students asked to keep written journal of dreams & fantasies
- 60 dreams & fantasies were selected for quantitative analysis
- they were then scored on 2 scales - locus & type of bizarreness
- scoring done by 3 separate judges & this was checked by inter rated reliability
what did the william et al study find
- 3 judges showed good levels of inter rater reliability
- 7/12 ppts has dreams with higher bizarreness scores than their scores for fantasies
Williams et al criticisms
- relied on self report -> social desirability -> ppts may have been embarrassed about their dreams / fantasies so must not have reported them -> comparisons unreliable
- sample difficult to generalise -> reports only came from 12 people -> also gender bias
types of relaxation techniques
- clearing the mind (writing down worries)
- deep breathing
- relieving tension in body
