Sleep and dreaming

• How many stages of sleep are there?

  5
• What are the advantages of sleep?

  Physical repair

  Regulates emotions

  Helps maintain a healthy brain by getting rid of toxins
• What factors cause sleep onset insomnia?

  Caffeine

  Anxiety

  Playing computer games too close to bedtime
• What is sleep maintenance insomnia?

  When people have difficulty staying asleep and usually wake up regularly through the night
• What factors cause sleep maintenance insomnia?

  Alcohol intake

  Depression

  Being with someone who snores
• What’s an endogenous pacemaker?

  Biological clocks within the body that regulate our circadian rhythms eg, the SCN which responds to light and dark
• What’s an exogenous zeitgeber?

  A feature of our environment that regulates our circadian rhythms eg light
• What is the role of the pineal gland?

  Produces a hormone called melatonin which induces sleep. It is not active during the day but releases melatonin at night which is what makes us feel drowsy.
• What does Freud believe about the unconscious mind?

  That it is filled with our deep and dark desires that are unacceptable in society. Our desires make up the part of our personality called the Id which is suppressed by our superego
• What was the aim of The Wolfman Study?

  To show that dream analysis could help treat psychological problems by releasing repressed memories
• What was the method of The Wolfman study?

  A longitudinal study with interviews

  A sample of one man in his twenties who was named The Wolfman who suffered from depression
• What was the Wolfmans dream about?

  He woke up to find his bedroom window opening by itself to reveal a number of white wolves sitting on a tree staring at him
• What did the different aspects of the Wolfmans dreams represent?

  Wolf- symbolised his father

  White fur- bed sheets of his parents beds

  Tree- a Christmas tree where the wolves replaced the presents
• What did Freud conclude about Wolfmans dream?

  Wolfman had an unconscious desire to be seduced by his father which related to the pleasure of receiving Christmas gifts

  He feared his father just like he feared the wolves as he feared being castrated by his father

  Freud suggested he repressed his fear of his father and displaced it onto the wolves
• What does the Activation theory suggest?

  Dreams originate from the brain stem due to an increase of neuronal activity in the pons

  This causes random brain waves to be generated and this random surge of brain activity stimulates the cerebral cortex

  The cerebral cortex tries to make sense of the information by using stored memories which is called synthesis

  The random surge of activity also affects the limbic system which is why our dreams can be emotional
• What are the criticisms of the Activation theory?

  Too reductionist as it reduces the complex idea of dreaming into the simplistic explanation of random brain waves

  Suggests that dreams are caused by random brain activity therefore it does not explain recurring dreams

  The theory states that dreams originate from the brain stems yet people with damage to the brain stem can still dream
• What is the aim of Williams et al?

  To show that dreams are a product of different brain activity which occurs during sleep
• What was the method of Williams et al?

  It was a natural experiment with a sample of 12 bio psychology students from a US university

  They kept a written journal for one term and recorded any dreams and fantasies they had

  The researchers selected 60 dreams and 60 fantasies

  Three judges scored the dreams and fantasies for bizareness but they did not know whether they were scoring a dream or a fantasy
• How did the judges select the dreams or fantasies in Williams et al?

  They picked ones that were more detailed and had visual content
• How were the dreams scored for bizarreness in Williams et al?

  They were given a score per sentence
• What were the findings of Williams et al?

  There was a significant difference between bizarreness scores in dreams and fantasies

  The most significant difference between dreams and fantasies was plot discontinuity
• What are the criticisms of Williams et al?

  Gender bias as only 2 of the participants were male and gender may affect the nature of people dreams and fantasies therefore the male population is unrepresented

  Social desirability- people may have been embarassed about certain dreams and fantasies and therefore purposely didn’t write them in the journal

  Lacks construct validity as qualitative data was turned into quantitative data so the complexity of dreams was lost when it was analysed in terms of numbers
• How does the nervous system affect sleep?

  Anxious feelings are caused when the sympathetic nervous system is activated.

  The parasympathetic nervous system is activated to counteract the sympathetic nervous system and calm us down ready for sleep
• What are examples of relaxation techniques?

  Clearing the mind by writing down worries

  Deep breathing
• What are examples of sleep hygiene?

  Make the room dark by switching off bright lights or drawing the curtains

  Make the room quiet for example by removing ticking clocks