5 Steps to a 5 AP Psychology, 2010-2011 Edition (30 page)

(E) evolutionary psychologists

6
. Which has enabled psychologists to learn the most about sleep processes over the last 50 years?

(A) psychopharmacology

(B) lesions

(C) EEGs

(D) CT scans

(E) MRI

7
. Which stage of sleep is characterized by brain waves with spindles and K-complexes?

(A) stage 1

(B) stage 2

(C) stage 3

(D) stage 4

(E) REM

8
. Nightmares most frequently occur during

(A) stage 1

(B) stage 2

(C) stage 3

(D) stage 4

(E) REM

9
. During paradoxical sleep, muscles seem paralyzed and

(A) eyes dart about in various directions

(B) breathing is slow and shallow

(C) night terrors are likely

(D) sleepwalking occurs

(E) the sleeper is easily awakened

10
. After her bridal shower, a young woman dreamed that she was dining with her parents when a young guy grabbed her wallet containing her driver’s license, credit cards, cash, and family pictures. She awoke in a cold sweat. After discussing the dream with a friend, she realized that she felt anxious about losing her identity in her approaching marriage. This explanation of her dream represents the

(A) manifest content

(B) latent content

(C) ego

(D) activation-synthesis theory

(E) cognitive analysis

11
. Monitoring by the hidden observer during hypnosis provides evidence for

(A) the nonconscious

(B) activation-synthesis

(C) dissociation of consciousness

(D) role playing

(E) posthypnotic amnesia

12
. Zen Buddhists and others practicing meditation are better able than most other people to stimulate their

(A) sympathetic nervous systems

(B) parasympathetic nervous systems

(C) somatic nervous systems

(D) salivation

(E) urination

13
. Of the following, which pair of psychoactive drugs shares the most similar effects on the brain?

(A) alcohol–marijuana

(B) caffeine–morphine

(C) nicotine–heroin

(D) amphetamines–cocaine

(E) barbiturates–LSD

14
. In small quantities, alcohol can be mistaken for a stimulant because it

(A) inhibits control of emotions

(B) stimulates the sympathetic nervous system

(C) speeds up respiration and heartbeat

(D) induces sleep

(E) affects the cerebellum

1. B—
Memories that can easily be brought into consciousness are in the preconscious level of consciousness.

2. A—
Crossing time zones can change the amount of light and dark your body gets, and alter your sleeping/waking cycle, secretion of hormones, etc. This disrupts your circadian rhythms.

3. B—
According to psychoanalysts/psychodynamic psychologists, the unconscious harbors unacceptable thoughts, wishes, and feelings that can be revealed in dreams, through hypnosis, etc.

4. D—
The hypothalamus regulates body temperature, blood pressure, pulse, blood sugar levels, hormonal levels, etc.

5. E—
Evolutionary psychologists believe that adaptive behavior persists because of natural selection. Those who have that trait survive, reproduce, and pass on their traits.

6. C—
Of the choices, only electroencephalograms can reveal function. Before the use of EEGs, people thought that little brain activity went on during sleep.

7. B—
EEGs of stage 2 sleep are characterized by waves showing sleep spindles and K-complexes.

8. E—
Nightmares are unpleasant, complex dreams that occur mainly during REM sleep.

9. A—
A paradox is something contradictory that is true. REM sleep is considered paradoxical sleep because the eyes are darting around, brain waves are similar to being awake, but the muscles of the arms and legs are inactive.

10. B—
Freudians believe the hidden meaning of a dream is its latent content.

11. C—
Ernest Hilgard demonstrated that when people are hypnotized, some part of their consciousness—the hidden observer—is passively aware of what is happening.

12. B—
Ordinarily we lack the ability to activate our parasympathetic nervous systems to any significant extent, but we can easily activate the other functions listed.

13. D—
Amphetamines and cocaine are both classified as stimulants.

14. A—
After drinking small amounts of alcohol, people are often lively and seem uninhibited. This results from inhibition of part of the frontal lobes that usually keep emotions in check.

Consciousness
—our awareness of the outside world and of ourselves, including our own mental processes, thoughts, feelings, and perceptions. EEGs show alpha and beta waves.

Levels of consciousness:

Normally conscious, what you pay attention to is what you process into perceptions, thoughts, and experiences.
Attention
is a state of focused awareness.

•
Preconscious
—level of consciousness that is outside of awareness but contains feelings and memories that can easily be brought to conscious awareness.

•
Unconscious
(subconscious)—level of consciousness that includes often unacceptable feelings, wishes, and thoughts not directly available to conscious awareness.

•
Nonconscious
—the level of consciousness devoted to processes completely inaccessible to conscious awareness.

Hypothalamus
controls your biological clock, regulating changes in blood pressure, body temperature, pulse, blood sugar levels, hormonal levels, activity levels, sleep, and wakefulness over 24 hours in normal environment (25 hours in a place without normal night–day).

Circadian rhythms
—these daily patterns of changes.

Reticular formation (reticular activating system
)—neural network in brainstem (medulla and pons) and midbrain essential to the regulation of sleep, wakefulness, arousal, and attention.

States of consciousness include: (normal waking) consciousness, daydreaming, sleep, hypnosis, meditation, and drug-induced states.

Sleep
is a complex combination of states of consciousness, each with its own level of consciousness, awareness, responsiveness, and physiological arousal.

•
Stage 1 sleep
—quick sleep stage with gradual loss of responsiveness to outside, drifting thoughts, and images (the hypnagogic state). EEGs show theta waves.

•
Stage 2 sleep
—about 50% of sleep time. EEGs show high-frequency sleep spindles and K complexes.

•
Stage 3 sleep
—deep sleep stage. EEGs show some high-amplitude, low-frequency delta waves.

•
Stage 4 sleep
—deepest sleep stage. EEGs show mostly delta waves. Slowed heart rate and respiration, lowered temperature and lowered blood flow to the brain. Growth hormone secreted.

•
REM sleep (Rapid Eye Movement sleep)—
sleep stage when eyes dart about. About 80% dreaming, 5 to 6 times each night (about 20% of sleep time). Called paradoxical sleep because EEGs are similar to stage 1 and wakefulness, but we are in deep sleep with skeletal muscles paralyzed.

•
NREM (Non-REM sleep)
—sleep stages 1 through 4 without rapid eye movements.

During sleep we synthesize proteins and consolidate memories from the preceding day.

Sleep disorders include
insomnia
, the inability to fall asleep and/or stay asleep;
narcolepsy
, sudden and uncontrollable lapse into sleep (usually REM); and
sleep apnea
, temporary cessations of breathing that awaken the sufferer repeatedly during the night. Sleep disruptions include
night terrors
, characterized by bloodcurdling screams and intense fear in children during stage 4 sleep; and
sleepwalking (somnambulism)
, usually in children during stage 4 sleep.

Three theories of what dreams mean:

1. To [Freudian] psychoanalysts, dreams are a safety valve for unconscious desires.
Manifest content
—according to Freud, the remembered story line of a dream.
Latent content
—according to Freud, the underlying meaning of a dream.

2.
Activation-synthesis theory
—during REM sleep the brainstem stimulates the fore-brain with random neural activity, which we interpret as a dream.

3.
Cognitive information processing theory
—dreams are the interplay of brain waves and psychological functioning of interpretive parts of the mind.

•
Daydreaming
—state with focus on inner, private realities, which can generate creative ideas.

•
Hypnosis
—state with deep relaxation and heightened suggestibility. The hidden observer provides evidence for dissociation of consciousness.

•
Meditation
—set of techniques used to focus concentration away from thoughts and feelings in order to create calmness, tranquility, and inner peace.

•
Psychoactive drug
—a chemical that can pass through the blood-brain barrier to alter perception, thinking, behavior, and mood.

     Four categories of psychoactive drugs:

1. Depressants
—reduce activity of CNS and induce sleep.

2. Narcotics
—depress the CNS, relieve pain, induce feelings of euphoria.

3. Stimulants
—activate motivational centers; reduce activity in inhibitory centers of the CNS.

4. Hallucinogens
—distort perceptions and evoke sensory images in the absence of sensory input.

•
Psychological dependence
—person has intense desire to achieve the drugged state in spite of adverse effects.

•
Physiological dependence (addiction)—
blood chemistry changes from taking a drug necessitate taking the drug again to prevent withdrawal symptoms.

•
Withdrawal symptoms
—typically intense craving for drug and effects opposite to those the drug usually induces.

IN THIS CHAPTER

Summary:
Did you have to learn how to yawn?
Learning
is a relatively permanent change in behavior as a result of experience. For a change to be considered learning, it cannot simply have resulted from maturation, inborn response tendencies, or altered states of consciousness. You didn’t need to learn to yawn; you do it naturally. Learning allows you to anticipate the future from past experience and control a complex and ever-changing environment.

This chapter reviews three types of learning: classical conditioning, operant conditioning, and cognitive learning. All three emphasize the role of the environment in the learning process.

Key Ideas

Classical conditioning

Classical conditioning paradigm