Sleep and Dreams Flashcards
(35 cards)
Who came up with restoration theory and what did they state
Oswald, he said sleep is essential for revitalising and restoring the physiological processes that keep the body and mind healthy and properly functioning after the days activities
List the studies that supported and opposed restoration theory
Support - zager, Shapiro, and the baby study
Oppose - Horne, Horne and Harley, Hobson
Describe Hornes study’s findings
Sleep deprivation did not interfere with participants ability to play sports or make them ill. sleep is not essential for physical functioning (short term)
Describe Hobson study’s findings
Sleep is entirely for the brain. Body restoration can be achieved by simply resting
Describe the baby study which supports restoration theory
Newborn babies have a high proportion of REM sleep. It makes up 50 to 60% of sleep time and it drops as they grow. This is a time of rapid brain growth and development so it’s logical that the baby has increased REM sleep
Describe Zagers study’s findings
Sleep deprived rats had a 20% decrease in white blood cell count, loss of body mass and eventually died
Describe Shapiro’s study’s findings
Ultramarathon runners sleep lasted on average 90minutes longer than usual over the next 2 nights. In particular non-REM sleep rose from 25% to 45% of total sleep
What is a zeitgeber
An environmental trigger that effects our circadian rhythm eg. Light
What is a schema
A set of ideas linked to a work or concept or situation
How long does it take for caffeine levels in your body to half
5 hours
What does activation synthesis theory state
That dreams occur due to a random firing of the pons. The brain makes random story’s to make sense of this stimuli which is our dreams
How is adenosine involved in sleep
It builds up throughout the day making us feel tired and then is broken down during sleep
How does stimulants like caffeine keep us awake
They block the adenosine receptors which make us feel tired
How does blue light from technology affect our sleep
It stops the release of melatonin ( the sleep hormone ) so avoid technology before bed
How does alcohol affect our sleep
It acts as a depressant so makes us feel more tired but it them acts as stimulant which reduces the quality of sleep by disrupting the ratio of REM To nREM
What is the role of the SCN (supracharismatic nucleus)
The SCN controls of circadian rhythm and receives light/dark information is connected to the optic nerve. It also tells the pineal gland when to release melatonin (darkness)
What does the cognitive approach state
The role of Sleep and Dreams is memory consolidation and information processing. Sleep is a similar cognition to being awake ( its not its own special process)
What does Menick’s study state
Napping is as good as sleeping for memory consolidation
What does seehagen’s study state
When babies learn a new action those that have had a nap have better recall of the skill.
What does Walker’s study state
He used a finger tapping task to find that sleep helps memories to be reliably encoded into the brain
What does Stickgold state
Sleep is of benefit to every type of memory.
What are strengths and weaknesses for cognitive approach
For - highly scientific as based on evidence
- explains why Dreams have a narrative - schemas
Against - limited explanation as it ignores the role of biology
Sleep can’t just be for restoration of cognition eg. Immune system strengthened from sleep
The approach is reductionist as it’s highly unlikely to be just cognitions that influence sleep and Dreams
Who created re-organisational theory and what is their main phrase
Crick and Mitchison. We dream in order to forget
What are the 2 types of memory according to reorganisational theory and what happens to them during sleep
Parasitic memories - wasteful/not needed memories - will be removed during sleep
Adaptive memories - useful memories - remain
