Psychology5.text

A periodic, more or less regular fluctuation in a biological system; it may or may not have psychological implications.

the waxing and waning of hormone levels, urine volume, blood pressure, and even the responsiveness of brain cells to stimulation.

The synchronization of biological rhythms with external clues, such as fluctuation in daylight.

Generated from within, rather then by external clues.

A biological rhythm with a period of about 24 hours

An area of the brain containing a biological clock that governs circadian rhythms.

A hormone secreted by the pineal gland; it is involved in the regulation of circadian rhythms.

A state in which biological rhythms are not in phase (synchronized) with one another.

A controversial disorder in which a person experiences during the winter and an improvement of mood in the spring.

1950s, physiologist Nathaniel Kleitman was the only man to spend his whole career studying sleep. Him and his students used an EEG to discover “Rapid eye Movement” (REM).

Rapid eye movement (REM) – Sleep periods characterized by eye movement, loss of muscle tone, and vivid dreams.

Stage 1 – Brainwaves are small and irregular.

Stage 2 – Brain emits short bursts of high-peaking waves called “sleep spindles”.

Stage 3 – Delta waves appear.

Stage 4 – Mostly delta waves.

Stage 5 – REM

A disorder in which breathing briefly stops during sleep, causing the person to choke and gasp and momentarily awaken.

A sleep disorder involving sudden and unpredictable daytime attacks of sleepiness or lapse into REM sleep.

A dream in which the dreamer is aware of dreaming.

Freud believed that a dream was “a royal road to the unconscious”.

1) Psychoanalytic – To express unconscious wishes, thoughts, and conflicts.

2) Problem focused – To express ongoing concerns of waking life and/or resolve current concerns and problems.

3) Cognitive – Same as waking life – to express concerns and interests.

4) Activation-synthesis – none; dreams occur because of random brain-stem signals, though cortical interpretations of those signals may reflect concerns and conflicts.

A procedure in which the practitioner suggests changes in a subjects sensations, perceptions, thoughts, feelings, or behavior.

1) Hypnotic responsiveness depends more on the efforts and qualities of the person being hypnotized than the skill of the hypnotist.

2) Hypnotized people cannot be forced to do things against their will.

3) Motivated people without hypnosis can preformed feats preformed under hypnosis.

4) Hypnosis does not increase the accuracy of memory.

5) Hypnosis does not produce a literal re-experiencing of long ago events.

6) Hypnotic suggestions have been used effectively for many medical and psychological purposes.

Dissociation – A split in consciousness in which one part of the mind operates independently of others. (Ernest Hilgard)

Sociocognitive Approach – Results in the interaction between the social influence of the hypnotist and the abilities, beliefs, and expectations of the subject.

Psychoactive drug – A drug capable of influencing perception, mood, cognition, or behavior.

Drugs that speed up activity in the central nervous system (Uppers).

• - Amphetamines/Methamphetamines: Wakeful, alertness, raised metabolism, elevated mood.
• - Cocaine: Excitation, feelings of energy, suppressed appetite.
• - Tobacco (Nicotine): Varies from alertness to calmness, depending on mental state, setting, and prior arousal; decreases appetite for carbohydrates.
• - Caffeine: Wakefulness, alertness, shortened reaction time.

Drugs that slow activity on the Central nervous system.

• - Alcohol: slowed reaction time, tension, depression, reduced ability to store new memories or to retrieve old ones, poor coordination.
• - Tranquilizers: Reduce anxiety and tension, sedation.

Drugs, derived from the opium poppy, that relieve pain and commonly produce euphoria.

- Opium/heroin/morphine: Euphoria, relief of pain.

consciousness altering drugs that produce hallucinations, change thought processes, or disrupt the normal perception of time and space.

• - LSD/psilocybin/mescaline: Exhilaration, visions and hallucinations, insightful experiences.
• - Marijuana (Mild): Relaxation, euphoria, increased appetite, reduced ability to store new memories, other effects depending on mental set and setting.

Increased resistance to a drug’s effects accompanying continued.

Physical and psychological symptoms that occur when someone addicted to a drug stops taking it.

1) Individual factors include body weight, metabolism, initial state of emotional arousal, personality characteristics, and physical tolerance for the drug.

2) Experience with the drug refers to the number of times a person has taken it.

3) “Environmental setting” refers to the context in which a person takes the drug.

4) “Mental state” refers to a person’s expectations about the drug’s effects and reasons for taking it.