The Impact of Sleep on Psychology and Cognitive Processes: Understanding Sleep & Learning , Study notes of Psychology

Download The Impact of Sleep on Psychology and Cognitive Processes: Understanding Sleep & Learning and more Study notes Psychology in PDF only on Docsity! PSYCHOLOGY TEST #2 SLEEP  Rhythm o Annual cycle – geese migrate, bears hibernate, & HUMANS experience seasonal variations in appetite, sleep & mood  Seasonal affective disorder (SAD) – mood disorder caused by dark winter months o 28 day cycle – female menstrual cycle averages 28 days o 24 hr cycle – varying alertness (sleep), body temperature, & growth hormone secretion o 90 min cycle – go through various stages of sleep in 90 min cycles  Sleep stages o Awake & alert – strong mental engagement; low amplitude, fast irregular BETA WAVES o Awake but relaxed – eyes are closed, but awake; brain slows down. Slow regular ALPHA WAVES (meditating person) o SLEEP STAGES 1 & 2!  Brain enters high amplitude; slow, regular wave called, THETA WAVES (day dreaming) o SLEEP STAGES 3 & 4!  Deepest sleep. Largest amplitude, slow DELTA WAVES o SLEEP STAGE 5!  After reaching 4, sleep cycle starts moving back towards 1. Although still asleep, brain engages in low amplitude, fast & regular BETA WAVES. REM sleep – rapid eye movement. w/ each 90 min cycle, stage 4 decreases and length of REM sleep increases  Sleep & Health o Disasters: Chernobyl, 3 mile island, Challenger, Bhopal, and Exxon Valdez all officially attributed to errors in judgment induced by sleepiness or fatigue  Sleep Disorders o Dyssomnia  Insomnia: problem sleeping for at least a month; difficulty falling asleep  Hypersomnia: sleeping too much (1 month)  Narcolepsy: falling asleep during regular day activities  Sleep Apnea: difficulty breathing while sleeping  Circadian Rhythm: your daily rhythms not matching your sleep cycle (working nights) o Parasomnias  Nightmares: children; persistent bad dreams  Night Terrors: children; screaming from bad dreams and not remembering in the morning  Sleepwalking: getting up at night w/o memory in the morning  Sleep hygiene o Fixed bedtime and waking time o Avoid caffeine, alcohol and spicy food o Use bed just for sleeping and sex o Avoid napping o Exercise regularly  Why do we dream? o To satisfy own wishes (Freud)  Benefits of sleep o Alertness; increase of concentration o Strengthens memory o Boosts mood o Moderates hunger and obesity o Fortifies immune system o File away memories o Develop & preserve neural pathways o To make sense of neural static o To reflect cognitive development o Less risk of accidents o Increased productivity o Creativity  What do we dream? o Negative emotional content – 8 out of 10 o Failure dreams: commonly dream about failure, being attacked, pursued, rejected o Sexual dream: men—1 in 10; women – 1 in 30 o Dreams of gender: women dream of men &women equally; men dream more of men than women LEARNING  Is relatively permanent change in an organisms behavior due to experience Watson  Studied babies  Claims everything is learned  “Little Albert” experiment 1920 o Created fear of furry objects/animals by pairing a white rat with a loud noise after 7 pairings o No extinction process  Behaviorism  Used classical conditioning to develop advertising campaigns for a number of organizations including Maxwell House, making the “coffee break” and American tradition Pavlov  The condition reflex/ Salivation reflex  Classical conditioning o Before conditioning the “NEURAL STIMULUS” (the bell) does nothing o After conditioning the NS creates salivation rather than the meat (UNCONDITIONED STIMULUS) o Extinction – when a US (food) does not follow a CS (tone); CR (salivation) starts to decrease & at some point goes extinct  Spontaneous recovery – may occur if there is a pause in conditioning o Stimulus discrimination – learned by the ability to distinguish between a CS and other stimuli that do not signal a US Cognitive Processes  Early behaviorists believed learnt behavior of various animals could be reduced to mindless mechanisms  Later behaviorists suggested that animals learn predictability of a stimulus, thus learn expectancy or awareness  Pavlov & Watson believed laws of learning were similar between humans and animals o Later behaviorists suggested that learning was constrained by animals biology  TV & observational learning – violent TV/ video games exposed to children create increased aggression DRUGS  Psychoactive drug: a chemical substance that alters perceptions & mood (effects consciousness) Dependence & Addiction  Continued use produces tolerance  W/ repeated exposure, more of the drug is needed to get same effects o Withdrawal – users may experience undesirable effects when they stop taking the drug IF addicted o Dependence – absence of drug may lead to pain & cravings ( psychical dependence) &negative emotions (psychological dependence) o Addiction – a craving for a chemical substance despite adverse consequences (psychical & Psychological)  MISCONCEPTIONS 1. Addictive drugs quickly corrupt 2. Addiction cannot be overcome voluntarily 3. Addiction is not different than repetitive pleasure seeking behaviors Depressants  Drugs that reduce neural activity and slow body functions o ALCOHOL  Increases aggressiveness; reduces self awareness; affects motor skills, judgment and memory  ½ of car accidents and murders are under the influence of alcohol  1/3 of drownings are under the influence of alcohol  Effects  Depression  Fatigue and lethargy  Decreased motivation  Sleep disturbance  Confusion  Impaired sexual function  Highest consumptions in Europe, Americas and western pacific  Abusive/dependence highest in Native American population in the US 5x more common  50-72% of all rapes are alcohol related  67% of women were intoxicated when unplanned pregnancy occurred  72% of all offenders in assault cases o BARBITURATES  TyDrugs that depress the activity of the CNS  Reduces anxiety, but impair memory & judgment  EX. Nembutal, Seconal and Amytal o Stimulates  Drugs that speed up body functions and excite neural activity  CAFFEINE & NICOTINE – increase heart and breathing rates & other autonomic functions to provide energy  AMPHETAMINES – stimulate neural activity, causing speed-up of body functions and associated energy and mood changes with devastating effects  ECSTASY – stimulate and mild hallucinogen; produces euphoric high and can damage serotonin – producing neurons resulting in permanent deflation of mood and memory  COCAINE – induces immediate euphoria followed by a crash; crack can be smoked; others are sniffed or injected o Hallucinogens: psychedelic (mind-manifesting) drugs that distort perceptions & evoke sensory images in the absence of sensory input  LSD – powerful hallucinogen also known as acid  THC – major ingredient in marijuana; triggers variety of effects, including mild hallucinations A guide to selected psychoactive drugs chart in book! Drug Type Pleasurable Effects Adverse Effects Alcohol Depressant Initial high followed by relaxation and disinhibition Depression, memory loss, organ damage, impaired reactions Heroin Depressant Rush of euphoria, relief from pain Depressed physiology, agonizing withdrawal Caffeine Stimulant Increased alertness and wakefulness Anxiety, restlessness, and insomnia in high doses, uncomfortable withdrawal Methamphetamine Stimulant Euphoria, alertness, energy Irritability, insomnia, hypertension, seizures Cocaine Stimulant Rush of euphoria, confidence, energy Cardiovascular stress, suspiciousness, depression crash Nicotine Stimulant Arousal and relaxation, sense of well-being Heart disease, cancer Ecstasy Stimulant/ mild hallucinogen Emotional elevation, disinhibition Dehydration, overheating, and depressed mood, cognitive, and immune function Marijuana Mild hallucinogen Enhanced sensation, relief of pain, distortion of time, relaxation Impaired learning and memory, increased risk of psychological disorders, lung damage  Hypnosis – a social interaction in which 1 person (the hypnotist) suggests to another (the subject) that certain perceptions, feelings, thoughts, or behaviors will spontaneously occur o Posthypnotic suggestion: suggestion carried out after the subject is no longer hypnotized o Posthypnotic amnesia: supposed inability to recall what one experienced. MEMORY Stages of Memory  Encoding  Storage  Retrieval Memory Effects  Next-in-line-effect – when recall is better for what other people say, but poor for a person just before you  Spacing effect – we retain information better when our rehearsal is distributed over time o Works best  Serial position effect – recall is better for 1st and last items, but poor for middle items on a list Mnemonics  Link method – forming a mental image  Chunking – organizing items into familiar units o Acronyms Types of Memories  Sensory Memory – the longer the delay, the greater the loss  Working Memory – “short-term” memory, limited capacity (7 +/- 2 ) and short duration (20 seconds) o Brown/ Peterson (1958/1959) measured duration by manipulating rehearsal  Long term Memory – unlimited capacity, stores from 1000 billion to 1,000,000 billion bits of information Stress, Hormones, & Memory  Heightened emotion (stress related/ other) make for longer memories; continued stress can disrupt memory  Explicit Memory – facts/experiences  Implicit Memory – learning an action and the individual does not know or declare what she knows Measures of Memory  Recognition – has to identify an item amongst others  Recall – must retrieve information using effort  Relearning – shows how much time/effort is saved when learning material a 2nd time Retrieval Cues Types of Long Term Memories Explicit (declarative) w/ conscious recall Processed in hippocampus facts/general knowledge personally experienced events Implicit (procedural) w/o conscious recall Processed, in part, by cerebellum skills - motor and cognitive classical and operant conditioning effects