SLEEP
STAGES OF SLEEP
● Stages 1-4: “quiet sleep” or NREM sleep
1. Stage 1
■ May experience fantastic images and/or auditory hallucinations
2. Stage 2
■ More relaxed & clearly asleep -- sleeptalking can occur
3. Stages 3 (transitional) & 4 (deep sleep) – slow wave sleep
■ Hard to awaken & sleepwalking can occur
~ Ascend through Stages 4, 3, 2 to… ~
○ REM Sleep
■ Heart rate rises, breathing rapid and eyes moving beneath eyelids
■ Muscles so relaxed, are virtually paralyzed and dreams occur
● Cycle repeats itself about every 90 minutes – with approx. 4 to 6 cycles per night
○ As night continues, time spent in Stage 4 decreases as time in REM increases
SLEEP FACTS
● Genetics influence exactly how much sleep we need…however, most humans sleep 9-10 hours
if left to do so unhindered
● Brain keeps track of the amount of sleep we get & does not let us “make up” for lost sleep
● Sleep deprivation can be detrimental – can lead to difficulty focusing, diminished productivity,
tendency to make mistakes, irritability, fatigue & a diminished immune system
● Afternoon naps – a necessity or myth?
○ Seems to be a major period of sleep at night and a smaller period of sleep in the
afternoon which begins around 12 hours after the middle of the main sleep period
● Why do we sleep? (4 theories)
○ Sleep protects
○ Sleep recuperates
○ Sleep helps remembering
○ Sleep and growth
SLEEP DISORDERS
● Insomnia – persistent problems in falling asleep or staying asleep
○ Sleeping pills can help yet not advised…instead psychologists often use natural
alternatives
● Narcolepsy – experience periodic, overwhelming sleepiness during wakeful hours
○ “sleep attacks” last usually 5 min. or less
○ drug Modafinil being prescribed to relieve sleepiness
● Sleep Apnea – stop breathing during sleep & wake long enough to resume normal breathing
○ Occurs hundreds of times a night and is often accompanied by excessively loud snoring
as well as daytime sleepiness & irritability
○ Treatments include weight loss and use of CPAP machine
● Night Terrors – horrific dream images that can produce bloodcurdling scream & intense fear
for up to 30 min. yet individual will not remember episode in the morning
○ Occurs in Stage 4 sleep
● Sleepwalking -- blank stare, move about in slow, automatic manner & may try to eat, dress or
go to bathroom in wrong place
○ Occurs in Stage 4 sleep
DREAMS
Usually story-like – most commonly have some degree of likeness to daily activities yet will be more
bizarre and unrealistic

Why do we dream?
o Wish Fulfillment

Manifest content (remembered story-line) is a censored version of the dream’s
latent content (underlying meaning of dream)

Information processing

Physiological function
o
Activation-synthesis theory
o
Cognitive Development
HYPNOSIS
Hypnosis – an induced state of awareness, usually characterized by heightened suggestibility, deep
relaxation, and highly focused attention
 Hypnotic techniques have been used throughout history…but Austrian physician, Anton
Mesmer reintroduced it in the late 1700s
 Can anyone experience hypnosis?
o It depends on the subject’s level of suggestibility
 About 20 % of people are highly suggestible
 Usually these individuals have rich fantasy lives and easily become
absorbed in the imaginary events of a novel or a movie
 About 40% of the population have a low level of suggestibility…meaning that they
would not be very susceptible to hypnosis
 Can hypnosis make you do things against your will or remember long forgotten
events?
**Answer to both of these questions is…NO
 Researchers have found that “hypnotically refreshed” memories combine fact with fiction
 Research has shown that the observable behaviors of hypnotic subjects are usually well within
the normal limits of behavior
Is hypnosis an altered state of consciousness?
 Experts cannot agree
o some believe that it is a distinct state of consciousness, separate from sleep or our
normal waking state
o other believe that hypnosis is simply heightened motivation
o
still others believe that hypnosis is a social process and subjects are just unknowingly
acting out the role of a “good subject” to please the hypnotist
What are the therapeutic benefits of hypnosis?
 Can be used in psychological & physiological treatments
Often in these arenas, posthypnotic suggestions are utilized (suggestion made under hypnosis to be
carried out when the person is no longer hypnotized)
PSYCHOACTIVE DRUGS
DEPRESSANTS (“downers”)
 effects – decrease neural activity, slow down of bodily functions and reduce sensitivity to
outside stimulation
 KINDS
o Alcohol
 In low doses – relax drinker by slowing down the sympathetic nervous system
 In high doses – reactions slow, speech slurs, and skilled performance deteriorates
 Also affects memory by disrupting the processing of recent events into long-term
memory, reduces self-awareness, and focuses one’s attention on immediate
situation rather than future consequences
o
Barbiturates
 Mimic the effects of alcohol – depress NS activity & in larger doses, can lead to
impaired memory and judgement
o
Opiates (Narcotics)
 Heroin – user gets a short lived feeling of blissful pleasure, followed by craving
for another fix, need for progressively larger doses, and physical withdrawal
symptoms
STIMULANTS (“uppers”)
 effects -- uses body’s own energy in larger amounts & faster than normal in the process,
speeding up ones bodily functions -- when effects wear off, body’s energy drained, leaving
person exhausted & depressed
 KINDS
o Caffeine
 Found in coffee, tea, soda, chocolate and many over-the-counter meds
 Most people use caffeine in some form everyday – most widely used
psychoanalytic drug
 At high doses, can produce anxiety, restlessness, insomnia & increased heart rate
– known as “coffee nerves”
o
o
Amphetamines (“speed” or “uppers”)
 Suppress appetite and once prescribed as diet pills
 Methamphetamine (“Crystal Meth”) – illegal drug manufactured in street
laboratories that is either smoked or injected
Cocaine
 Illegal stimulate derived from coca tree
 When inhaled/”snorted”, reaches brain in minutes – producing intense euphoria,
mental alertness & self-confidence which lasts for several minutes
HALLUCINOGENS (also known as psychedelics)
 effects -- alter perceptions & mood and produce feelings of unreality
 cause hallucinations, prevent one from being able to distinguish between reality and fantasy,
and usually magnify mood/frame of mind of user at time
 KINDS
o LSD (Lysergic Acid Diethylamide) “Acid”
 one of the most powerful drugs known – only takes one-millionth of an ounce to
produce altering effects
 trip lasts 6-14 hours – effects vary greatly
 visual distortions & hallucinations
 emotions very intense & unstable -- impairs thinking
 bad trips” -- terrifying & users are in a state of panic, feel they will go mad &
never come out
 flashbacks -- have sudden, w/o warning brief recurrences of trip weeks/months
after use
o
Ecstasy (MDMA)
 Increases empathy, peacefulness and calm/relaxed, yet also seem to have an
unending supply of energy (also a mild stimulant)
 Researchers have found a decline in memory and performance on IQ tests…think
that MDMA causes long-term serotonin changes in the brain
o
Marijuana
 produces feeling of elation, promotes relaxation, relieves inhibitions, relieves
anxiety & increases sensitivity to sights, sounds & touch – causes sense of time to
be distorted
 THC, ingredient that produces high, remains in body long after use
 effects: impairs attention/coordination, slows reaction time, interferes with
concentration, logical thinking, ability to form new memories & ability to hold in
mind what is said
 chronic use associated with loss of motivation and general apathy