Sleep, dreams, Freud Flashcards
on average, how much of our lives do we spend sleeping?
36%
circadian rhythms
rhythmic cycles corresponding to roughly 24-hour periods and occur naturally
how do we know that our circadian rhythm is 24 hours
people put into room without clocks or windows, and they go to bed later and wake up later every day
original studies: let people have electric lights, presence of lights affect biology of sleep
how do we measure sleep
EEG: placing electrodes on scalp to measure electrical activity; rough estimates of psychological states
also need to measure muscle electrical activity and eye movement (ECG)
State 1 of sleep
brief transition stage when first falling asleep (hypnagogia), slower muscle activity
theta waves
State 2 - 4
2: sleep spindles and K complex
3/4: delta waves
slow-wave sleep
deeper stages of sleep
characterized by increasing percentage of slow, irregular, high-amplitude delta-waves
cycle back stage of sleep
after about 90 minutes after 3/4 stage, sleep lightens and returns to stage 2 then REM
(1 -> 2 -> 3 -> 4 -> 3 -> 2 -> REM -> 2 …)
4-5 cycles are typical
REM sleep
characterized by EEG patterns that resemble beta waves of alert wakefulness
muscles most relaxed / paralyzed
rapid eye movement
dreams
how does sleep walking occur (somnambulism)
the mechanism to paralyze muscles during REM does not get shut off
how is REM sleep waves different than awake brain waves
both are beta but REM has some sawtooth wave patterns
hypnagogia
transition from sleep to wakefulness
induce hallucinations, thoughts, dreams
how does sleep paralysis occur
mechanism for paralyzing muscles starts too early during hypnagogia
lucid dreaming
awareness that you are dreaming (REM) during a dream
how studies study lucid dreaming
studies show ability to communicate between dreamer and external observation
strapped goggles to people sleeping and shine light over eyes when they enter REM sleep and people sleeping would remember they were in a lab
participants would do a predetermined pattern of eye movement to let the scientists know that they know they are sleeping
functions of sleep for 2-3 year olds
brain grows rapidly (building + strengthening synapses during REM)
functions of sleep after 3+
switches from brain building to brain maintenance and repair
when people are lucid dreaming, how does time change
it does not
why do we sleep
conserve calorie energy (not plausible explanation)
restoration of body
memory consolidation and strengthening/neural synthesis
how much sleep do newborns need
16 hours
how much sleep do 6 year olds need
11-12 hours
how much sleep do adults need
8
insomnia
difficulty falling / staying asleep
sleep apnea
disorder where person stops breathing for brief periods while asleep
narcolepsy
disorder where sudden sleep attacks (REM) occur in middle of waking activities
night terrors
abrupt awakenings with panic and intense emotional arousal; non-REM parasomnia (during slow wave sleep)
REM behavior disorder (RBD)
people act out their dreams
what happens when you get 5 or less hours of sleep
increase hunger hormone and weight, sustained stress and suppressed immunity
problems with Freud
unscientific
very broad conclusions were wrong
unfalsifiable claims (unobservable features of the mind)
did not measure behavior (used self reporting)
looked at small sample of people who had psychosis
Freud’s BIG theory of the mind
tries to understand everything
unconscious mind: basic, often hidden, motivations that influence all aspects of psychology
Freud’s contributions
willingness to discuss pleasure and sexuality seen as taboo
first to bring child development to psychology
origins of psychoanalysis
talking therapy
patient came with physical symptoms that could not be explained by medicine/science or physical mechanisms such as glove paralysis
after therapy, symptoms of hysteria or conversion disorder started to disappear
Freud’s structural theory of the mind
id, ego and superego
describe Id
driven instinct, present from birth
unconscious
does not distinguish between reality and fantasy
operates based on pleasure
describe ego
develops out of id in infancy when they realize they cannot have anything they want
self, personality
operates based on reality and logic
describe superego
conscious, sense of right or wrong
internalization of society’s moral standards
responsible for guilt
hydraulic metaphor
Id is source of motivation and is pushing on ego and superego
list stages of child development (Freud) and related ages
oral: birth - 1
anal: 1 - 3
phallic: 3 - 5
latency: 5 - puberty
genital: past puberty
describe oral stage
pleasure: breast-feeding (mouth)
if weaning or removing breast-feeding is done wrong -> fixation
fixation: personality characterized by passivity, gullibility, immaturity, unrealistic optimism
describe anal stage
pleasure: anus
if toilet training is done wrong -> fixation
fixation: retentive or expulsive behaviors, compulsiveness (concerned with neatness and order) (keeping in feces)
describe phallic stage
pleasure: genitals
oedipus/electra complex
fixation: excessive masculinity in males and need for attention or domination in female
oedipus complex
desire for sexual involvement with parent of opposite sex and rivalry with parent of same sex
- father competition of attention from mother (boys)
- castration anxiety
- if cannot beat father so then identifies with father
superego formed
why did freud think women had weaker moral sense
they did not go through oedipus complex, weaker superego
describe latency stage
pleasure: hobbies, school, same-sex friendships
sexuality is repressed
describe genital stage
pleasure: love and work
sexual feelings re-emerge, oriented towards others
fixation: pleasure from earlier stages
describe Freud’s theory of personality
ego then superego emerge as a way for the child to deal with the impulses of id
dynamic unconscious (id) explains personality differences
describe Freud’s defense mechanisms
unconscious mental processes employed by ego to reduce anxiety and impulses caused by id
ego is filter that prevents id’s desire to come out in true form
sublimation
shifting to activities that are valued by society
displacement
re-direction of shameful thoughts to more “appropriate targets” (less powerful)
projection
reducing anxiety by attributing unacceptable impulses to someone else
Freud’s theory of dreams
ego cannot filter id, dreams are window to unconscious (id)
