Unit 1.5 - Sleep - AP Psychology

Consciousness

our awareness of ourselves and our environment

Cognitive Neuroscience

study of the brain activity linked with cognition (including perception, thinking, memory, and language)

dual processing

awareness of more than what is in our consciousness

parallel processing

the processing of many aspects of a problem simultaneously

sequential processing

processing one aspect of a problem at a time

blind sight

a condition in which a person can respond to a visual stimulus without consciously experiencing it

circadian rhythm

the biological clock; regular bodily rhythms that occur on a 24-hour cycle

What happens every 90 minutes in the body while asleep?

we cycle through distinct sleep stages

NREM meaning

non rapid eye movement

NREM-1 sleep stage

the transition from being awake to sleep; marked by slow breathing and the irregular brain waves of sleep

NREM-2 sleep stage

Clearly asleep but can be easily woken

NREM-3 sleep stage

Deep sleep; sleepwalking/talking

REM sleep stage

body relaxed as if paralyzed but brain is active

paradoxical sleep

another name for REM sleep

what stage does dreams occur?

when one hits REM

suprachiasmatic nucleus (SCN)

a pair of cell clusters in the hypothalamus that controls circadian rhythm

pineal gland

produces melatonin

reticular formation

monitors sleep + wake cycle

insomnia

recurring problems in falling or staying asleep

narcolepsy

uncontrollable sleep attacks

sleep apnea

a sleep disorder characterized by temporary cessations of breathing during sleep and repeated momentary awakenings

REM sleep behavior disorder (RBD)

A sleep disorder characterized by the brain's failure to suppress voluntary actions during REM sleep, resulting in the sleeper verbally and physically responding to the dream story.

night terrors

a sleep disorder characterized by high arousal and an appearance of being terrified; occur during NREM-3 sleep and aren't remembered

somnambulism

sleepwalking

sleep

periodic, natural loss of consciousness--as distinct from unconsciousness resulting from a coma, general anesthesia, or hibernation

Inadequate sleep cycles cause...

struggles with focus, gaining weight, getting sick, becoming irritable and/or depressed, feeling old

Why do we sleep?

for protection, recuperation, memory, creative thinking, growth

dreams

a sequence of images, emotions, and thoughts passing through a sleeping person's mind

why do we dream? (theories)

wish fulfillment, information processing, activation synthesis, physiological function, cognition

information processing in dreams theory

a way to deal/sort out the stresses of everyday life

physiological function theory

dreams are used to use neural pathways & keep connections open; stimulation for brain

activation-synthesis theory

proposes that the brain tries to make sense of random brain activity that occurs during sleep by synthesizing the activity with stored memories

cognitive theory of dreaming

dreams are the expression of a person's thoughts, a pictorial of dreamer's conceptions

wish fufillment dream theory

belief that dreams provide an outlet for unacceptable desires.

manifest content of dreams

the apparent story line of dreams

latent contect

the hidden or symbolic meaning of the dream

negative emotional content

8 out of 10 dreams have negative emotional content

failure dreams

dreams about failure, being attacked, rejected, misfortune

sexual dreams

Contrary to our thinking, sexual dreams are sparse. Sexual dreams in men are 1 in 10; and in women 1 in 30.

dreams of gender

Women dream of men and women equally; men dream more about men than women.

lucid dreaming

experience of becoming aware that one is dreaming

sleep paralysis

state of being unable to move just after falling asleep or right before waking up