SLEEP AND DREAMS

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SLEEP AND DREAMS
Chapter 5 Huffman/Ch 6 Nairne States of
Consciousness
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• Consciousness an organisms subjective
  awareness of internal and external events in its
  environment
• Attention internal processes that set
  priorities for mental functioning

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• Levels of awareness
• HIGH Controlled processes that require
  attention (and interfere with other functions)
• MIDDLE Automatic processes requiring minimal
  attention (such as riding your bike)
• LOWEST Minimal or no awareness of the
  environment

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• Levels of awareness
• HIGH Controlled processes that require
  attention (and interfere with other functions)
• MIDDLE Automatic processes requiring minimal
  attention (such as riding your bike)
• Automaticity fast and effortless processing
  that requires little or no focused attention

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• Levels of awareness
• HIGH Controlled processes that require
  attention (and interfere with other functions)
• MIDDLE Automatic processes requiring minimal
  attention (such as riding your bike)
• LOWEST Minimal or no awareness of the
  environment

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Sleep

• Sleep is a behavior AND an altered state of
  consciousness
• We spend about a third of our lives in sleep.

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EEG Changes During Sleep

• Summated brain wave activity (EEG)
• Wakefulness beta activity (13-30 Hz)
• Eyes closed alpha activity (8-12 Hz)

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EEG Changes During Sleep
Stage 1 Light Sleep Alpha Waves Stage 2 Eye
movements brain waves slow sleep spindles
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EEG Changes During Sleep

• Stage 3 very slow waves - delta waves appear
• Stage 4 almost all delta waves
• Very hard to wake during this stage

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EEG Changes During Sleep

• REM stage rapid, irregular and shallow
  breathing, eyes jerk rapidly, both wake and sleep
  waves (sawtooth pattern)

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Theories of Sleep

• Repair/Restoration
• Sleep allows for recuperation from physical,
  emotional, and intellectual fatigue
• Survival Value
• Sleep evolved to conserve energy and protect our
  ancestors from predators

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Wish Fulfillment Freuds DreamTheory

• A.K.A. Psychoanalytic theory Dreams represent
  disguised symbols of repressed desires and
  anxieties
• Manifest Content symbols used to disguise true
  meaning of dream
• Latent Content true unconscious meaning of a
  dream

Sometimes,a cigar is just a cigar. - Freud, on
the meaning of dreams
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WHY DO WE DREAM!?

• Activation-synthesis hypothesis
• Dreams represent random activation of brain cells
  during REM sleep
• Problem Solving
• Dreams focus on the problems we have in an
  attempt to find a solution
• Threat simulation
• Dreams evolved to help us practice skills we need
  to avoid threats.

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Dyssomnias

• Insomnia - difficulty in getting to sleep or
  remaining asleep
• Situational related to anxiety or excitement
• Drug-induced sleeping pills (tolerance)

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Dyssomnias

• Sleep apnea person stops breathing and is
  awakened when blood levels of carbon dioxide
  stimulate breathing
• Narcolepsy Sleep appears at odd times
• Sleep attack urge to sleep during the day
• Cataplexy REM paralysis occurs, person is still
  conscious

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Myths of Sleep

• Everyone needs 8 hrs of sleep per night to
  maintain good health
• Learning of complicated subjects such as calculus
  can be done during sleep
• Some people never dream
• Dreams last only a few seconds
• Genital arousal during sleep reflects dream
  content
• It is unrelated to sexual content
• May be a useful index of physical versus
  psychological causes of impotence in males

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NEXT...TIME...
Drugs that Influence Consciousness