Psychology Chapter 6
Why could the brain's functioning displayed by Treisman's experiment be described as adaptive?
People wouldn't live long at all if they could only process things in the realm of immediate awareness
Drug Dependency
Physical or psychological need for continued use.
Withdrawal
Physical reactions such as sweating, vomiting, changes in heart rate, or tremors which arise as a result of stopping drug use.
Dyssomnias
Problems connected with the amount, timing, and quality of sleep
Each sleep cycle progresses from N1 to N3, ending in _____________.
REM sleep
Treisman's experiment
Two sentences were given to the ears of participants, and switched halfway through. 30% of people repeated the meaningful sentence, unaware that it had even switched ears; The brain follows the meaning of the message in both ears even if we as humans can only follow one thing at a time.
What's the difference between human sleep deprivation and animal sleep deprivation?
When rats and dogs are deprived of sleep, it can be fatal. Their immune systems completely fail. Humans however, would literally just fall asleep-they could not simply die.
Examples of stimulants
caffeine, nicotine, amphetamines, and cocaine
As the night goes on, the amount of time spent in REM sleep...
increases and the amount of time between REMs decreases.
Stage N2 Sleep
-Theta waves interrupted by sleep spindles and K complexes -You are definitely asleep, although you are sensitive to external world; e.g. loud noises trigger K complexes
Stage N1 Sleep
-Waves are lower in amplitude and slightly more irregular -Theta Waves: Dominant wave patters of stage N1 sleep -People claim that their thoughts are just drifting
Problems with the Activation-Synthesis Hypothesis
-We also dream during non REM sleep -Human infants spend a lot of time in REM; however, they probably don't create stories to make sense of random activity
Why might one's experience with a drug be completely different from someone else's?
-biological, genetic, environmental factors -smoking marijuana in a car moving 75mph limits the anxiety-reducing effects of the drug
Examples of opiates
-opium -heroine -morphine
Marijuana -how is it ingested? -results? -harmful side effects?
-smoked or swallowed -melting away of anxiety, a general sense of well-being, increased awareness of normal sensations (four hours) -impairs concentration, motor coordination, and the ability to track things visually (DUI)
Causes of Insomnia
-stress -emotional problems -alcohol/drug use -medical conditions
Divided Attention Task
-used to measure automaticity -People are asked to perform two tasks at the same time, and automaticity is demonstrated when the automatic task does not interfere with performance on the other task. (Playing Mozart and reciting a list of words)
What are two theories for what ADHD is involved in?
1. Irregularities in neurotransmitter action; perhaps dopamine 2. Brain damage
What % of children are impacted by ADHD?
3-5% ; most common psychological disorder among school aged children
When in the sleep cycle does REM sleep occur?
70 to 90 minutes into the sleep cycle
Synesthesia
A blending of sensory experiences - colors may actually feel warm or cold, things may taste round
Hypersomnia
A chronic condition marked by excessive sleepiness. -Napping frequently and always complaining of drowsiness
Hallucinogens
A class of drugs that tends to disrupt normal mental and emotional functioning, including distorting perception and *altering reality*
Visual Neglect
A complex disorder of attention characterized by a tendency to ignore things that appear on onesie of the body (usually the left side) -Caused by damage to the right parietal lobe
How might the impact of a drug be dependent on the behavior of others?
A girl who acts flirty toward men might be perceived as an easy target to men who have ingested alcohol, but not to those who haven't.
Suprachiasmatic Nucleus
A particular part of the hypothalamus that plays a key role in regulating the clock that controls circadian rhythms. -It is thought that the brain has many clocks, each controlling functions like body temperature or activity level
Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder
A psychological disorder marked by difficulties in concentrating or in sustaining attention for extended periods (easily distracted and can't finish what they start); can be associated with hyperactivity (squirming and blurting out answers)
Narcolepsy
A rare sleep disorder characterized by sudden extreme sleepiness. -Directly enters REM sleep -Loses all muscle tone and falls to the ground in a sound sleep
REM Sleep
A stage of sleep characterized by rapid eye movements and low-amplitude, irregular EEG patterns resembling those found in the waking brain. REM is typically associated with dreaming -HR increases -eyes twitch -erection/lubrication
Parasomnias
Abnormal disturbances that occur during sleep
How long does each sleep cycle take?
About 90 minutes.
Manifest content
According to Freud, the actual symbols and events experienced in a dream.
Latent Content
According to Freud, the true psychological meaning of dream symbols (hidden desires that are too disturbing to be expressed consciously)
In low doses (such as a cup of coffee), stimulants produce...
An improvement in mood
What might a training program for children with ADHD include?
Application of study skills and rewards for sitting still and not being disruptive in social settings
How might the environmental impacts on our biological rhythms be considered adaptive?
As the cold of winter approaches, birds fly south, bears prepare for hibernation. These are adaptations to changes in the environment which can't be controlled
Why do people feel like they have the same nightmares over and over, overreacting and feeling like there is a deeper meaning?
Because a disturbing dream might wake you from your sleep, then becoming firmly ingrained in memory and likely to happen again.
Circadian Rhythms
Biological activities that rise and fall in accordance with a 24 hour cycle.
Biological Rhythm
Body functions that work in cycles. -Menstrual Cycle
Biological clocks
Brain structures that schedule rhythmic variations in bodily functions by triggering them at the appropriate times
How could insomnia be learned?
Children who are used to falling asleep in the presence of their parent could have trouble going back to sleep after there parent has left the room.
What is most certainly a contributor to the onset and maintenance of ADHD?
Experience (nurture) -However, researchers believe that some kind of neurological problem contributes as well.
In high doses, stimulants can cause...
Extreme anxiety, convulsions, or death
True or false? Night terrors and sleepwalking, like nightmares, occur during REM sleep.
False. Night terrors and sleepwalking occur during NON-REM sleep; therefore, probably neither are entirely related to dreaming
True or false? Deprivation of REM sleep leads to drastic impairment.
False. People can be slightly more irritable when awaken from REM sleep, and their performance on tasks requiring logical reasoning may suffer, but not much.
Automaticity
Fast and effortless processing that requires little or no focused attention. -Driving while talking to someone (Driving is practiced and somewhat automatic)
Stage N3 Sleep
Final stage of sleep -Progressively deeper state -More synchronized slow-wave brain patterns called *delta activity* (This stage is also called delta or slow-wave sleep) -If shaken awake, you aren't very responsive
On an average night, how many times do we cycle through the various stages of sleep?
Four or five times.
Nightmares
Frightening and anxiety-arousing dreams that occur primarily during REM sleep.
How could it be argued that sleep deprivation can actually be fatal for humans?
Indirectly-car accidents/work related accidents
What are the harmful side effects of regular cocaine usage?
Intense episodes of paranoia, hallucinations, delusions
How does cocaine work?
It blocks the reabsorption of norepinephrine and dopamine, producing feelings of euphoria for only about half an hour
Morphine
It's painkilling effects and pleasurable mood shifts come from mimicking the brain's endorphins.
How might the environment play havoc with our internal clocks?
Jet lag! -Usual signals for sleeping and waking are disrupted, you have trouble going to sleep, and you wake up at the wrong time, generally feeling lousy. Business men might arrive a few days early for a meeting to get over this.
What is (probably) the most important zeitgeber?
Light -If we were continuously left in a dark room, we would sleep and rise at different times.
What are two of the best known hallucinogens? How are they created?
Mescaline and Psilocybin (occur naturally in the environment)
What is another name for Opiates? What are they?
Narcotics -depressant -Reduces anxiety, elevates mood, and lowers sensitivity to pain
In patients with visual neglect, does the brain completely shut off all information that it receive from one side of the body?
No. Patients with visual neglect will choose to live in the house with no smoke coming out of a window toward the left, even though they claim the houses look the same, because their brains know that there is something wrong with the smoking house.
Is dreaming a direct result of REM sleep?
No. REM is highly correlated with dreaming, but dreaming is also reported in earlier stages of seep
Amphetamines and cocaine produce stimulating effects by increasing the effectiveness of what neurotransmitters?
Norepinephrine and dopamine
Ritalin
-Stimulant -In low doses, it improves a person's ability to concentrate and focus their attention selectively.
Ecstacy -What class of drugs? -Main ingredient? -Side effects?
-Stimulant -Increasingly popular -main ingredient: MDMA -Can lead to brain damage
Discuss Freud's theory about dreams
-Royal road to the unconscious -Satisfy forbidden wishes, particularly sexual ones
Causes of Hypersomnia
-Sleep apnea (waking up gasping for breath) -Infectious diseases (mononucleosis) -alcohol: breaks up sleep architecture
Causes of Narcolepsy
-Absence of hypocretin (a neurotransmitter in the brain)
Nightmares can cause/indicate
-Can cause insomnia -Frequent nightmares can indicate psychological disorder or problems with the regulation of emotion
What are some examples of ways that people who think that dreams help us to solve problems argue that theory?
-Cartwright found that depressed individuals who dream about their problems were better adjusted a year later (other factors probably contributed to this) -They help us to make decisions about people. If a friend protects you in a dream, you like them more in real life. (Our dreams usually don't have current events and we usually can't remember them)
How does the brain repair itself and the body during sleep?
-During slow wave sleep, growth hormone is released, and slow-wave sleep increases after exercise. -Sleep also maintains the functioning of the immune system -Sleep consolidates memories.
What neurotransmitters does ethyl alcohol impact?
-GABA (stress/anxiety...alcohol reduces self awareness) -glutamate -dopamine (stimulates the release of dopamine-pleasure center)
Activation-Synthesis Hypothesis
-Hobson and McCarley -Proposes that dreaming is a consequence of random activity in the brain.
How does automaticity help us?
-It frees up resources/workspace for conscious thought needed for the new and demanding
LSD -how does it work? -results?
-Mimics the action of the neurotransmitter serotonin by acting on its receptor sites in the brain, producing stimulation. -Synesthesia
Insomnia
-Most common type of dyssomnia -Difficulties in initiating and maintaining sleep (for a period of at least a month) -30% of population suffers from insomnia, but only about 15% are severe
Why must awareness be selective?
-Neurons are limited in number and speed/efficiency -Also, if we looked at and thought about everything we would be paralyzed by information/indecision
What are some behavioral signs of visual neglect?
-Not applying makeup to the left side of the face -Reading only from the right side of pages
Night Terrors
-Occur mainly in children -Sleeper awakens in state of panic -Sleeper rarely remembers it; more traumatic for surrounding people
Zeitgeber
Controller of a biological clock
Crack
Crystallized form of cocaine -More pure than street cocaine; faster acting and more intense (lows also more intense)
Barbiturates and Tranquilizers fall under which category of psychoactive drugs?
Depressant
Into which category of psychoactive drugs does ethyl alcohol fall?
Depressant
Drug Tolerance
Developed with repeated use; increasing amounts of the drug are needed too produce the same physical/behavioral effects.
Dichotic Listening
Different auditory messages are presented separately and simultaneously to each ear. The person's task is to repeat aloud one message while ignoring the other.
Stimulant
Drug that increases central nervous system activity -Usually produces feelings of well-being, euphoria, and increased energy levels
Psychoactive drugs
Drugs that affect behavior and mental processes through alterations of conscious awareness
Depressants
Drugs which slow, or depress, the ongoing activity of the central nervous system.
What does nicotine do in the brain?
Duplicates the action of neurotransmitters by attaching itself to the receptor sites of neurons; producing the same effect as the brain's natural chemical messenger.
Explain the Activation-Synthesis Hypothesis.
During REM sleep, cells in the hindbrain randomly activate the higher centers of the brain. The higher centers are trained to interpret these signals in meaningful ways. Therefore, they create a story to piece the random signals together. Thus, our dreams don't make much sense but they do *tell something about how you think when you're awake*
What regions of the brain are involved in ADHD?
Regions involved in controlling attention -Frontal -Parietal
Give a function of sleep
Reparation and restoration of the body and brain
Neural Synchrony
Represented by regular, high-amplitude waves of low frequency -Large numbers of neurons are working together. -Not present when we are awake; brain is busy dividing its labor among cells that work on specialized tasks.
Sleepwalking
Sleeper arises during sleep and wanders about -mainly in childhood -runs in families
What is the survival value in sleep?
Sleeping at night keeps us out of dangerous environments when it's dark. -Animal evidence: animals with night vision sleep during the day so that they are not in dangerous environments when vision-reliant predators are out and about
In which stage of sleep is the majority of time spent during the first sleep cycle?
Slow-Wave sleep (stage N3)
What are some symptoms of sleep deprivation?
Slurred speech, sharp declines in mental ability, paranoia, hallucinations
What is a benefit of REM sleep deprivation?
Some forms of depression are helped by REM sleep deprivation, and some anti-depressant drugs suppress REM sleep as a side effect.
Cocktail Party Effect
The ability to focus on one auditory message and ignore others; also refers to the tendency to notice when your name suddenly appears in a message that you've been actively ignoring; *Shows that our brains are aware of more than we think.*
When we are deprived of sleep for a period of time, what happens?
The ability to perform complex tasks, particularly those that require sustained attention, decline.
Why is REM sleep called paradoxical?
The electrical activity resembles an awake pattern, but you are deeply asleep. -If jostled awake, you are NOT immediately alert. -Muscle tone is extremely relaxed
Attention
The internal processes used to set priorities for mental functioning
Alpha waves
The pattern of brain activity observed in someone in a relaxed state; higher amplitude and cycle in a slower, more relaxed manner.
Consciousness
The subjective awareness of internal and external events
REM rebound
The tendency to increase time spent in REM sleep after REM deprivation. -This leads scientists to believe that REM sleep is adaptive/serves an important purpose
What is one last theory about why we dream?
To simulate and help us practice strategies for threatening situations.
Which is LESS habit forming: Tranquilizers or Barbiturates?
Tranquilizers (prescribed more often)
