PSU: Psychology Classnotes 5
Final review flashcards for Psych 100 (Penn State)
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- Superchiasmatic Nucleus (SCN)
- A cluster of neurons in the hypothalamus; Governs the timing of circadian rhythm including sleep-wake and mental alertness
- Visual Images (Dreams)
- Occipital lobe is activated without optical nerve; other portions of the brain are mostly inactive; most people report dreams play out like a movie
- Middle Level of Consciousness
- Auto processing / Daydreaming; Engaged in routine / familiar tasks: experienced drivers and "driver's amnesia"
- Insomnia
- Chronic inability to fall asleep or remain asleep for an adequate length of time, includes restless leg syndrome (legs don't want to stop moving); treatments: stimulus control (if you can't sleep w/in 15 mins go do something until you feel sleepy: bed only allowed for sleep), relaxation response
- Stage 4 NREM
- Delta waves present greater than or equal to 50% of the time; most difficult to wake someone; muscular movement possible; bed wetting and sleep walking occur here (disorders); heart rate, blood pressure, and breathing are at their lowest
- Gender Dreams
- Men have more physical aggression: more punching, breaking, stealing, etc; Women experience aggression in form of rejection ('that dress makes you look fat'), weddings and babies have something that go wrong
- Child Dreams
- 95% of children have fear of monsters with cat-like features (claws, fangs), starting as young as age 2; Location of monsters: Boys (behind door, curtains, to side), Girls (under the bed)
- Stage 3 NREM
- >14 hz, it is the transition stage to deep delta wave (stage 4) sleep; mixture of delta and theta waves
- Consciousness
- Immediate thoughts, feelings, and emotions inlcuding awareness of 'self' and surroundings, both physical and social; Meta-cognition: being aware of having thoughts and development of them; William James: "Stream of Consciousness," sometimes low and slow moving, other times high and fast
- Melatonin
- Hormone secreted by the pea-sized pineal gland in the center of the brain, it synchronizes the sleep-wakefulness cycle; As sun decreases, SCN increases melatonin production (makes sleepy and reduces activity level)
- Narcolepsy
- Disorder where you fall asleep at random times during the day (work or school); main treatment is with drugs that stimulate the CNS
- Alpha Waves
- 4-8 hz; normal state of consciousness, relaxed but awake; transition stage to sleep
- High Level of Consciousness
- Controlled processes that are sharp and focused (learning new task, studying, first learning to drive, having conversation with friend); Can interfere with other functions (passage of time), evidence: cocktail party effect (selective attention can be redirected)
- REM Rebound
- When you miss out on REM one night, you make up for it the next night
- Memory and Dreams
- LTM: active (people and events from past: common); STM: inactive (dreams forget what happens and accepts rapidly shifting scenes); Dream content: chased/pursued but not injured (78% of men, 83% of women), sexual experiences (85% of men, 73% of women)
- Stage 1 NREM
- 8-12 hz, pre-sleep, only lasts a few minutes; composed of alpha and theta waves (theta: 7-8hz, daydreaming), 10.5hz = perfect meditation; you gradually disengage from sensations around you; includes hypnagogic hallucinations (floating, falling); myoclonic jerks: sleep start
- Parasomnias
- Abnormal emotions, behaviors, movements that occur during sleep (night terrors and sleepwalking)
- Stage 2 NREM
- 12-14 hz, quiet sleep, progressively more relaxed and less responsive; lasts about 15-20 minutes; K complexes (voltage wave boosts that occur due to external stimulation (sounds) but also occur randomly); sleep spindles (short bursts of brain activity); sleep talking is common here; breathing is deep and rhythmical
- Selective Attention
- Sharp and focused concentration/consciousness; control of consciousness that is deliberate; 2 requirements (sensory adaptation (stimuli that are benign/constant) and motivation)
- Beta Waves
- 4-7 hz; show high levels of consciousness
- Logic and Emotions (Dreams)
- Limbic center is active (emotional center of brain); depressed dreamers have more limbic activity (trouble sleeping); prefrontal cortex: inactive (no logic, organization, rationale, judgement)
- Environmental Cues
- Helps keep 24 hr. cycle synchronized (especially sunlight); communicated in the eye and shin receptors; sunlight 'enters' the SCN to keep cycle; if environmental cues are removed, most people go to 25 hr days (ex: jet lag, night shifts)
- Sleep Apnea
- Sleep disorder where pauses in breathing occur during sleep; treatment: CPAP device (splits airway open to allow for easier air movement), and a mouthpiece can be used as well
- Dream Recall
- Typically we remember 1/10 dreams, you can remember dreams much better if you are determined to do so and think about it, and lots of distractions in the morning make us forget
- Minimal Level of Consciousness
- (No consciousness) Unconscious (Freud): a theoretical structure of the mind; Unconscious (bio-based): Sleeping, passed out, coma; Sleep and Dreams: Circadian (about day rhythm); Superchiasmatic Nucleus (SCN)
- Stage 1 REM
- "Dream sleep," Beta waves (80% of time here is spent dreaming); form of active sleep due to dreaming, but unable to move body; paradox = wide awake + 'sleeping' body; heightened brain activity and body activity; pulse can be fast and irregular; brain blocks message to motor center (muscles relaxed); can't act out dreams, sexual arousal common; memory circuits of brain are activated, major part of memory consolidation; REM is increased after learning (only higher mammals have REM, not reptiles); if missed some REM one night next night there will be more