psych: sleep and dreams

3 aims of dement and kleitman study

1- investigate link between REM sleep and dreaming

2- investigate link between eye movement during REM sleep and dream content

3- investigate link between estimated dream duration and the actual length of REM sleep

strengths of dement and kleitman study

• Participants aren’t allowed caffeine or alcohol- This is a strength because caffeine and alcohol can disrupt our natural sleep patterns.

• EEG electrodes and EOG electrodes were used- This is a strength because these are the proper equipment to accurately measure brain waves and eye movements

weaknesses of dement and kleitman study

• Only 9 participants- This is a weakness because a small number of participants means results lack reliability

• Lab experiment- This is a weakness because a sleep lab is an unnatural sleep environment for the participants so this may disrupt their natural sleep patterns

information about NREM

• NREM stands for non-rapid eye movement

• NREM makes up 3 out of the 4 sleep stages

• The brain is resting but the body is active

• Sleep-walking and bed-wetting can occur during NREM

• Bodily functions slow down ex. body temp drops and heart rate slows down

• Muscles are active and hypnotic jerks can occur

information about REM

• REM stands for rapid eye movement

• REM is the type of sleep in the final stage of the sleep cycle

• The body is temporarily paralysed (to prevent us acting out our dreams) and our brain is active

• Most powerful dreams occurs during REM sleep

what’s Oswalds restoration theory? what does it say are the results of a lack of N/REM?

You need to rest to recover energy lost throughout the day so that you can be productive and healthy. If you don’t get enough REM sleep, you won’t restore your psychological functions (replenishes brain cells and neurotransmitters) and if you don’t get enough NREM sleep you won’t restore your physiological functions (restore energy and replenish immune system)

how does studies like peter tripp and zager et al support oswalds restoration theory?

• Peter tripp went 201 hours without sleeping and developed a lack of focus, an irritable mood, and even hallucinations and paranoia. This shows that we need sleep to help with cognitive and psychological functions

• Zager et al showed that rats that didn’t sleep developed diseases that even proved to be fatal to the rats

weaknesses of the studies (zager et al and peter tripp)

-Ethical issues with zager et al as rats were used and effectively tortured and even killed

-Peter tripp is a case study so his experience is individual and may not apply to everyone.

explain little hans and the oedipus complex

The oedipus complex is what freud said all young boys went through when they develop and vast passion and love for their mothers and often have violent thoughts towards their fathers due to this. Little hans had dreams and phobias (aka his phobia of horses and castration, plumber dream, giraffe dream) which Freud said was because of his love for his mother.

explain little hans giraffe dream

A big giraffe and a small giraffe were beside each-other and the small giraffe was crumpled so hans took it away which made the big giraffe shout at him. Freud says this symbolises hans wanting his father out the picture and his punishment if he fulfills these desires

explain latent and manifest content in a dream, using an example

Manifest content is what we remember from our dreams ex. we are doing an exam. Latent content is the hidden symbolism and meaning behind our dream content ex. we are dreaming about doing an exam because we have one the next day and we are nervous for it.

explain freuds ‘iceberg’ (representation of the mind)

The iceberg that’s above water shows our conscious mind which is our current thoughts and reality. The iceberg just under the water is our subconscious mind which is knowledge and information that we can easily access but not our current thoughts. The middle to bottom of the iceberg is our unconscious mind where our repressed thoughts and desires are that we can’t access easily.

according to Freud, what’s the link between dreaming and the subconscious mind?

Freud said that dreaming is where our unconscious thoughts came to us in the form of dreams and symbolism.