Psychology Chapter 7 Study guide

circadian rhythm

A circadian rhythm is a biological clock that is genetically programmed to regulate physiological responses within a time period of 24 or 25 hours. Circadian rhythms operate even when normal day and night cues are removed. Researchers have determined that humans have a circadian cycle of 24.18 hours. Circadian rhythms do not control our sleep cycles; the environment and the 24-hour day control our cycles. Thus, when you miss sleep, this disruption becomes very apparent.

night terrors

Night terrors occur during Stage IV sleep (usually within an hour after going to bed). They may last from 5 to 20 minutes and involve screaming, sweating, confusion, and a rapid heart rate. The person may suddenly awaken or have a persistent fear that occurs at night. People usually have no memory of night terrors.

How does opium affect a person's vitals?

Opiates affects your vitals because it interferes with you body's ability to breathe. An overdose could lead to death because they stop breathing.

abuse drugs

People use and abuse drugs for many reasons—to avoid boredom, to fit in with peers, to gain more self-confidence, to forget about problems, to relax, or simply to feel good. Despite the reason for using or abusing a drug, all of these reasons result in a drastic change of how people feel. All drug use—and abuse, too—involves a certain amount of risk.

hypnotic analgesia

Using hypnosis to reduce pain

Identify the purpose and uses of biofeedback

Biofeedback is a technique in which a person learns to control his or her internal physiological processes with the help of feedback. For example, you can be hooked up to a biofeedback machine so that a light goes on every time your heart rate goes over 80. You could then learn to keep your heart rate below 80 by trying to keep the light off. Some of the best-documented biofeedback cures involve special training in muscular control. Tension headaches often seem to result from constriction of the frontalis muscle in the forehead.

Identify the most common stimulant in the U.S.

Caffeine

sleep apnea

Causes frequent interruptions of breathing during sleep. One of the most common symptoms is a specific kind of snoring that may occur hundreds of times during the night. Each episode lasts 10 to 15 seconds and ends suddenly, often with a physical movement of the entire body. Sleep apnea affects more than 12 million Americans, occurring most often among older people. People suffering from this disorder may feel listless, sleepy, and irritable during the day. It is usually caused by a physical problem that blocks the airway, such as enlarged tonsils, repeated infections in the throat or middle ear, or obesity.

narcolepsy

Characterized by a permanent and overwhelming feeling of sleepiness and fatigue. Other symptoms include unusual sleep and dream patterns, such as dreamlike hallucinations or a feeling of temporary paralysis. People with narcolepsy may have sleep attacks throughout the day. The sleep attacks are accompanied by brief periods of REM sleep. Victims of narcolepsy may have difficulties in the areas of work, leisure, and interpersonal relations and are prone to accidents because they have fallen asleep.

List some of the things that occur during REM sleep

During REM, you dream and your eyes twitch, heart rate increases, your breathing is erratic, and your muscles will tense and relax. While you are dreaming, a form of paralysis takes over your body so that you do not act out your dreams.

nightmares

Frightening dreams, commonly known as nightmares, can occur during the dreaming phase of REM sleep. A nightmare may frighten the dreaming sleeper, who will often wake up with a very vivid memory of an overly terrifying dream.

Identify some of the causes of hallucinations

Hypnosis, meditation, certain drugs, withdrawal from a drug to which one has become addicted, and psychological breakdown may produce hallucinations. Hallucinations can also occur under normal conditions. People hallucinate when they are dreaming and when they are deprived of the opportunity to sleep. Periods of high emotion, concentration, or fatigue may also produce false sensations and perceptions. For example, truck drivers on long hauls have been known to swerve suddenly to avoid stalled cars that do not exist.

insomnia

Insomnia—a prolonged and usually abnormal inability to obtain adequate sleep—has many causes and takes many forms. It may be caused by anxiety or depression. Overuse of alcohol or drugs can also cause insomnia.

How do drugs mimic hormones and neurotransmitters?

Like hormones, drugs are carried by the blood and taken up in target tissues in various parts of the body. Unlike hormones, though, drugs are taken into the body from the outside. People introduce drugs into their systems through routes that bring the drugs into contact with capillaries (the smallest blood vessels). From there, drugs are gradually absorbed into the blood. Then drug molecules act like neurotransmitters—they hook onto the dendrites of neurons and send out their own chemical messages.

Is it physically or psychologically addictive?

Marijuana is not physically addictive, although people may become psychologically dependent on it

Describe mindfulness meditation

Mindfulness meditation was developed from Buddhist tradition, but is the most popular form of meditation in the U.S. This form of meditation focuses on the present moment. In mindfulness, distracting thoughts and feelings are not ignored but are rather acknowledged and observed non-judgmentally as they arise to create a detachment from them and gain insight and awareness.

psychoactive drugs

Psychoactive drugs interact with the central nervous system to alter a person's mood, perception, and behavior.These drugs range from stimulants like the caffeine in coffee and cola drinks, to depressants like alcohol, to powerful hallucinogens like marijuana and LSD.

Identify the different theories of dreaming as described by Freud & Crick

Sigmund Freud believed that no matter how simple or mundane, dreams may contain clues to thoughts the dreamer is afraid to acknowledge in his or her waking hours. Freud interpreted a dream he had as wish-fulfillment. Freud distinguished the manifest content of a dream (what the dreamer remembers). The manifest content is often based on the events of the day. Francis Crick believes that dreams are the brain's way of removing certain unneeded memories. In other words, dreams are a form of mental house cleaning. This mental house cleaning may be necessary because it is not useful to remember every single detail of your life.

Identify the reasons we need sleep

Some psychologists believe that sleep is restorative. They believe that sleep is a time when the brain recovers from exhaustion and stress. Others believe it is a type of primitive hibernation: we sleep to conserve energy. Some psychologists suggest that sleep is an adaptive process—in earlier times sleep kept humans out of harm's way at night when they were most vulnerable to animals. Still others believe we sleep to clear our minds of useless information. As a variation of this theory, some people believe we sleep to dream. hair and cell growth

How does marijuana affect the user?

The effects of marijuana vary somewhat from person to person and seem to depend on the setting in which the drug is taken and the user's past experience. In general, though, many marijuana users report that most sensory experiences seem greatly augmented music sounds fuller, colors look brighter, smells are stronger foods have more flavor, and other experiences are more intense than usual. Users may feel elated, the world may seem somehow more meaningful, and even the most ordinary events may take on great significance.

What are the medical uses of marijuana?

They have discovered several therapeutic uses of the drug in the treatment of patients with glaucoma, multiple sclerosis, and those undergoing chemotherapy

How does hypnosis work? How does a hypnotist put a participant in an altered state of consciousness? How is a person's perception altered? Include the relationship between a hypnotist and a participant

To induce a trance the hypnotist slowly persuades a participant to relax and to lose interest in other external distractions. This may take a few minutes or much longer depending on the purpose of the hypnosis, the method of induction used by the hypnotist, and the participant's past experiences with hypnosis. In an environment of trust, a participant with a rich imagination can become susceptible to the hypnotist's suggestions. Psychologists using hypnosis stress that the relationship between hypnotist and participant should involve cooperation, not domination. The participant is not under the hypnotist's control but can be convinced to do things he or she would not normally do. Anyone can resist hypnosis by refusing to open his or her mind to the hypnotist. Furthermore, people under hypnosis cannot be induced to do things against their will. Mutual trust is important for hypnosis to be successful.