sleep & dreaming Flashcards

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1
Q

what happens in the brain activity in stage 1

A

slowing , synchronised alpha waves become theta waves

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2
Q

features of the brain in stage 1 of sleep

A
  • light drowsy sleep
  • muscle spasms followed by a sensation
  • people do not realise they have been asleep
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3
Q

what happens in stage 2 of the sleep cycle

A
  • eye movement stops
  • theta waves become slower with occasional bursts of rapid brain waves
  • lose conscious awareness of the outside world
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4
Q

what happen in stage 3&4 of the sleep cycle

A
  • 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
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5
Q

what happens in the REM stage

A
  • breathing is faster + less regular
  • rapid eye movement
  • limb muscles are temporarily paralysed
  • heart rate increases + blood pressure rises + body temp goes up/down
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6
Q

% of time spent in each sleep cycle stage

A

1 - 10%
2 - 50%
3 - 10%
4 - 10%
5 - 20%

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7
Q

what are endogenous pacemakers

A
  • internal biological clocks that manage bodily rhythms
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8
Q

what are exogenous zeitgebers

A

features of the environment that help to manage bodily rhythms , either physical / social

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9
Q

example of exogenous zeitgeber

A

light

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10
Q

what is the hypothalamus

A

a part of the brain that controls a number of key bodily functions e.g body temp

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11
Q

what is the role of melatonin

A
  • 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
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12
Q

what is sleep onset insomnia

A
  • problems falling asleep
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13
Q

causes of sleep onset insomnia

A
  • too much caffeine / nicotine before going to bed
  • eating a heavy meal close to bedtime
  • playing computer games close to bedtime
  • on going anxiety
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14
Q

what is sleep maintenance insomnia

A
  • disturbed pattern of sleep where a person wakes up regularly
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15
Q

causes of sleep maintenance insomnia

A
  • depression
  • drinking alcohol
  • menopause (women)
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16
Q
  • 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
  • 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
17
Q

what is the id in freuds theory

A
  • 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
18
Q

Freud believed that dreams act as ____ ______? What is this?

A
  • wish fulfilment
    -we dream about the things we secretly desire & privately want to do - releases anxiety
19
Q

what is the manifest & latent content

A
  • manifest content = actual content of a dream
  • latent content = underlying meaning of the dream
20
Q

criticisms of freuds theory

A
  • 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)
21
Q

outline the AST

A
  • 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
22
Q

AST CRITICISM

A
  • 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)
23
Q

William et al aim

A
  • assess the bizarreness of dreams & fantasies to support the AST
24
Q

Williams et al - design method

A
  • natural experiment comparing dreams + fantasies using self report
25
Q

Williams et al sample

A
  • 12 Harvard students
  • 2 male , 10 female
  • age range = 23-45
26
Q

Williams et al procedure

A
  • 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
27
Q

what did the william et al study find

A
  • 3 judges showed good levels of inter rater reliability
  • 7/12 ppts has dreams with higher bizarreness scores than their scores for fantasies
28
Q

Williams et al criticisms

A
  • 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
29
Q

types of relaxation techniques

A
  • clearing the mind (writing down worries)
  • deep breathing
  • relieving tension in body