Year 11 Psychology: Sleep & Dreaming

What are the 4 stages of sleep?

1) Sleep Onset 2) Late Night Stage 3) Deep Sleep (between light and deep sleep - slow delata waves with fatser waves) 4) Deep Sleep (very hard to wake in this stage - almost all slow delta waves)

What happens to brain waves in each stage?

1) Brain activity is restful, you go through alpha and theta waves. 2) Brain waves slow, mainly theta waves. 3) Slow delta waves plus some faster eaves. 4) Almost all slow delta waves.

What does REM stand for?

Rapid eye movement. It is a stage of sleep that occurs after stages 1-4.

What three things happen during REM sleep?

Sensory blockade, movement inhibition, AND dreaming!

What is the sleep cycle?

The process by which people will pass through the 4 stages of sleep and REM sleep in succession several times during a full sleep.

Explain why sleep is beneficial.

It helps neurons in the brain repair themselves.

Define circadian rhythm.

A bodily rhythm that has a daily (24hr) cycle - e.g. the sleep-wake cycle.

Define ultradian rhythm.

A bodily rhythm which occurs in a period of less than 24hrs, such as a sleep cycle, or our levels of alertness and our appetites.

Define sleep-wake cycle.

The 24-hour cycle of someone being awake and then asleep (a circadian rhythm).

Define endogenous cue.

Factors which influence our sleep-wake cycle and sleep cycle are 'internal' - coming from within the body.

Define exogenous cue.

Factors which influence our sleep-wake cycle and sleep cycle are 'external' - coming from our environment.

Define zeitgeber.

Another name for an 'exogenous' cue to sleep - cues or factors which come from our environments.

Which hormone helps regulate the sleep-wake cycle and how?

Melatonin - this hormone is produced by the Pineal Gland. When melatonin levels in the body increase, this signals the need for sleep. The production and release of melatonin in the body is triggered by darkness.

What is the main zeitgeber and how does it affect the sleep-wake cycle?

Light from the outside world. When light enters through our eyes, it lets our internal body clock know whether it is day or night. In turn, this can influence the timing of our sleep-wake cycle, as well as the release of the hormone melatonin.

Explain (a) one strength and (b) one weakness of the internal explanation for sleep.

One strength is that the melatonin explanation of sleep has a practical application - melatonin tablets can be used as a treatment for people suffering from insomnia. One weakness is that supporting studies often involve blind people, yet these provide weak evidence - there are different types of blindness and it is difficult to make generalisations of results from very small samples.

Explain one strength of the external explanation for sleep.

Siffre's (1975) study provides supporting evidence - he found that without light as an external cue to sleep, the human sleep-wake cycle is not set around a 24hr clock, rather, a cycle of sleep and wakefulness can stretch from 18hrs to 52 hrs.

What are three symptoms of insomnia?

Difficulty falling asleep, difficulty staying asleep, not feeling refreshed on waking, irritability and inability to concentrate.

What are three symptoms of narcolepsy?

No control over sleep-wake cycle, falling asleep suddenly at any time, excessive daytime sleepiness, hallucinations, cataplexy (loss of muscle power at any point).

Offer one explanation for insomnia.

Lifestyle - frequent jet lag or shift work...OR...mental and physical ill-health (e.g. depression or heart problems)...OR...side effects from medication (e.g. antidepressants) or food and drink, like alcohol or caffeine.

Offer one explanation for narcolepsy.

A lack of hypocretin (brain chemical) which usually keeps us awake...OR...genetic influence - variations in chromosome 6 thought to be linked to narcolepsy.

How might zeitgebers contribute to insomnia?

If somebody is exposed to abnormal levels of light (e.g. shift workers) at different parts of the day, this can make it difficult for them to fall asleep when they need to.

How might narcolepsy be explained by an imbalance of brain chemicals?

Narcolepsy has been linked with low levels of hypocretin in the brain. Usually, hypocretin helps us stay awake.

When does AST state that dreaming occurs?

During REM sleep.

What happens to the brain / body during the REM stage of sleep?

The brain cannot take information in via the senses (sensory blockade) and the body is largely paralysed (movement inhibition).

What do the 'random activation' and 'synthesis' parts of the AST theory suggest happens during dreaming?

Random activiation: thoughts are sent in the brain during REM sleep when neurons are randomly activated. Synthesis - our brains then work to synthesise or make sense of these random thoughts - putting them together into a story, which becomes the dream.

Explain a strength of the AST of dreaming.

Research evidence shows that, when in sleep labs, people experience increased brain activity during REM sleep, yet muscles are paralysed, and no sensory information is taken in. This supports the idea that dreams come from the brain making sense of random thoughts.

Explain a weakness of the AST of dreaming.

Rather than being random, many people can link their dreams to the events in their life the previous day. This suggests the firing of neurons in the brain during REM sleep has some meaning.

True or false - according to Freud, dreams have an important meaning for the dreamer.

TRUE

Spot the errors in the following paragraph...Often, according to Freud, we suppress or hide some of our most intense sexual desires or fears about life into our conscious mind. According to Freud, when dreams are analysed they can reveal these conscious thoughts and feelings, which can help free us from anxiety and mental health issues.

Repress NOT surpress...Unconscious NOT conscious.

What term did Freud use to describe the story the dreamer tells of what happens in a dream?

Manifest content.

What term did Freud use to describe the deeper meaning behind what it is said a dream is about?

Latent content.

Fill the gaps. Freud described DREAMWORK as the process by which the...?...content of a dream can be found. It involves unpicking any...?... , ...?... , and ...?... , which may have hidden the true meaning of the dream.

Latent, secondary elaboration, condensation, displacement.

According to Freud, how does the mind use the three processes below to hide the latent content of the dream from the dreamer? CONDENSATION DISPLACEMENT SECONDARY ELABORATION

Condensation: many ideas appear as one idea in a dream. Displacement: in a dream, something unimportant seems to be important, shifting attention away from the important thing. Secondary elaboration: using muddled ideas from dreamwork to build a whole story. The mind will add bits to the dream in order for it to make sense."

What useful, practical application does Freud's theory of dreams have?

Freud's theory (and subsequent mental health treatment of 'psychoanalysis') offered a unique way of studying the unconscious mind, through analysing dreams.

Why is Freud's proposed method of analysing people's dreams subjective? Is this a strength or weakness?

Weakness. Each individual analyst, who tries to interpret somebody's dream, can have a totally different interpretation.

Freud gathered lots of qualitative data to develop his theory. What is qualitative data? Why is this a strength?

Strength. Qualitative data is detailed and non-numerical and can provide a rich and valid understanding about people's thoughts and behaviours.

Why do critics of Freud's theory of dreams argue it is not very scientific?

The theory cannot be easily tested - for instance, it would be impossible to measure objectively the unconscious mind.

What did Freud say all children pass through during their early development?

Psychosexual stages of development.

What did Freud mean by the 'Oedipus complex'?

This is where a boy would feel strong feelings of hatred for his father for 'possessing' his mother, whom he wanted too. He would then want his father out of the way as a rival while fearing that his father will castrate him. The Oedipus complex is resolved when the boy identifies with his father and tries to 'become' him.

What research method did Freud use to gather evidence for his theories?

Case study.

What did Freud's procedure involve? How did he study Little Hans?

He gathered lots of detailed information about Hans from reports sent to him by Hans' parents.

How did Freud explain Little Hans' phobia of horses?

Freud thought the black bits round the horse's mouth might be Hans's father's moustache and that the horse could be a symbol for Hans's father. The fear of horses showed Hans's unconscious fear of his father.

How did Freud explain Little Hans' giraffe dream?

"Freud thought the dream linked to the fact that Little Hans liked to get into bed with his parents in the mornings - something Hans's father did not like. The big giraffe was Hans's father and the crumpled giraffe was his mother. When the big giraffe shouted at Little Hans for taking the crumpled giraffe away, this was interpreted as showing that Little Hans wanted to take his mother away from his father. "

What did Freud conclude from his case study?

That his case study of Little Hans supported his theory that children develop in a series of psychosexual stages and that the Oedipus complex occurs in small boys during the Phallic stage of development.

What is a strength of Freud's study?

Freud gathered a lot of in-depth and detailed information about the boy. The qualitative nature of the data means Freud's findings could be high in validity.

What is a problem of using the case study method?

Case studies are about unique individuals, so it would be wrong to generalise the findings from the study to a wider population and claim that all children go through these same stages of development.

What was the aim of Siffre's research?

To investigate the effects of living underground in a cave without external cues on the 24-hour sleep-wake cycle.

State two ways that Siffre measured his physical agility whilst in the cave.

Riding a cycle machine to cycle 3 miles, firing a pellet rifle to test coordination, threading beads on string.

What did Siffre do each time he awoke?

He telephoned a team above ground to let them know he was awake.

State two ways in which Siffre's health deteriorated during his time in the cave.

Memory became poor, confusing thoughts, emotions and panic, low mood, poor agility.

What was the most common sleep-wale cycle that Siffre experienced whilst in the cave?

A 48-hour sleep-wake cycle was common in two different extended periods of time.

What did Siffre conclude, regarding the sleep-wake cycle when there is an absence of external zeitgebers?

Without light and other external zeitgebers, there is a tendency for the sleep-wake cycle to become a 48-hour cycle rather than the 24-hour cycle.

Explain one strength of Siffre's study.

That Siffre spent 6 months in the cave is a strength - if he had spent less time, he may have found a particular rhythm by chance.

Explain one weakness of Siffre's study.

This was a one-off case study, where Siffre had to deal with issues such as noise of mice and damp inside the cave. The situation Siffre was in was unique, so it would be wrong to generalise the findings to every person who finds themselves without external cues to sleep, such as light.