1. The Nature of Sleep This topic includes Nature of sleep (cycles) Lifespan changes and sleep 1.“Outline the nature of sleep” ( 4 marks or 8 marks) 2.“Outline and evaluate the nature of sleep including lifespan changes” (8 + 16) 3.“Outline lifespan changes in sleep” ( 4 marks or 8 marks)

2. The Nature of Sleep 1.When we are awake our brain waves are of ____ __________ 2.What type of waves are characterised by the EEG in stage one? 3.What two changes begin to happen physically to the body in stage one? 4.The Hypnogogic state in stage one may involve what? 5.What waves occur in Stage 2? 6.What is a sleep spindle? 7.At what stage is if difficult to wake someone and sleep walking is most likely to occur? 8.What is released in stage 4? 9.REM or stage 5 features what type of waves? 10.Dreaming is most likely to occur at which stage? 11.Why is REM sleep known as paradoxical sleep?

3. Answers 1.High Frequency 2.Alpha 3.Lowering of body temperature and heartrate/Blood pressure 4.Hallucinations 5.Beta waves 6.Peak or cluster of high frequency brain waves 7.Stage 4 8.Growth hormones 9.High Frequency waves 10.REM sleep or stage 5 11.Eyes and brain are active but body in a state of paralyses

4. Why do we sleep? Why is sleep important? What might the approaches suggest about why we sleep?

5. Restoration explanation The nature of sleep allows for particular benefits, such as body repair and brain recovery For instance, the growth hormone released during the 4 th stage of sleep enables protein synthesis and cell growth to take place. This is important in the restoration of body tissue because proteins are fragile and must be constantly replaced. (Sassin et al) Similarly, REM sleep in the 5 th stage of the Basic Rest- Activity cycle enables brain recovery. Babies have approximately 50% REM sleep, whereas adult have nearer to 25% which is linked to babies’ rapid brain growth. (Siegal) This suggests that there are functions of neural development behind the nature of sleep and its stages.

6. Outline the nature of sleep. (8 marks) Key detail from the markscheme The nature of sleep conventionally refers to the basic characteristics of sleep. These include its circadian periodicity, the different phases and stages of sleep (REM and NREM, or REM and SWS), the association between REM sleep and dreaming etc. Different sleep patterns across the lifespan or across the animal kingdom would also be relevant. Given the problem of defining the ‘nature’ of sleep, a wide range of material could be relevant. These include the functions of sleep, sleep disorders, brain mechanisms of sleep and sleep as a biological rhythm.

7. Outline the nature of sleep. (8 marks) The basic rest-activity cycle suggests that sleep stages are part of a 90 minute continuum which occurs throughout the day within the circadian rhythm. There are 5 main stages of sleep at night, whereby EEG scans reveal that stages 1 and 2 of NREM sleep are characterised by alpha and beta waves which reflect relaxation and slow the body’s functioning. These two stages are known as ‘light sleep’. Stages 3&4 of NREM are characterised by delta and theta waves, typically known as Slow Wave Sleep where the metabolic rate it at its slowest and it’s proposed that the body undergoes reparation to its physiology. The growth hormone is released during stage 4 of sleep and it’s hard to wake someone up. In the last stage, known as REM sleep the brain and the eyes are active but the body is paralysed. This phase of sleep has been referred to as ‘paradoxical sleep’. Research by Dement and Kleitman when waking participants in different stages led to the suggestion that people sleep in REM sleep because dreams are more likely to be reported.

8. The nature of sleep allows for particular benefits, such as body repair and brain recovery. For instance, the growth hormone released during the 4 th stage of sleep enables protein synthesis and cell growth to take place. This is important in the restoration of body tissue because proteins are fragile and must be constantly replaced. The release of the growth hormone during SWS was proposed by Sassin et al who found that when sleep-waking cycles are reversed by 12 hours, the release of the growth hormone is also released, suggesting that the growth hormone release is controlled by neural mechanisms linked to SWS. Similarly, REM sleep in the 5 th stage of the Basic Rest-Activity cycle enables brain recovery. Babies have approximately 50% REM sleep, whereas adult have nearer to 25% which is linked to babies’ rapid brain growth. Research by Siegal suggested that the amount of REM sleep in any species is proportional to the immaturity of the offspring at birth’ for example the platypus is immature at birth and requires 8hours of REM sleep a day for brain growth, whereas the dolphin which can swim from birth has almost none. This suggests that there are functions of neural development behind the nature of sleep and its stages.

9. Research evaluation Look at the research you have chosen for the nature of sleep Not done it? Do it Create 2 possible evaluation points for the research

10. The Laboratory and sleep The research in this field uses highly controlled and objective EEG scans to determine what exactly is happening in the brain which arguably provides falsifiable and empirical evidence for sleep. This tool of measurement however can make the results ungeneralisable because the setting of the research was carried out in sleep labs which although highly controlled, it is low in ecological validity because it’s different to participant’s beds and they might feel uncomfortable or experience interrupted sleep, different to the results they might show at home.

11. Gender differences and sleep Research has found that more men (55%) report a better night’s sleep than women (37%) even when stressed (Kryger, 1994). What does this suggest about the nature of sleep? Why might this be? Can you explain?

12. Nature of Sleep The Biological approach and nature (MWB) Write this IDA for the nature of sleep Reflect on what your outline and your research is focused on… Just stages? Lifespan too? Functions? Disorders?

13. Model IDA 1 The nature of sleep supports the biological approach and the nature side of the nature/nurture debate. This is because the stages are biologically determined by electrical activity in the brain. As this is a deterministic view of sleep it aids our understanding of the different stages of sleep which in turn can help us predict behaviour which may result from varying sleep patterns. It also aids our understanding of sleep disorders such as sleep walking which may lead to useful pharmaceutical treatments

14. Model IDA 2 The stages of sleep are biologically determined because they are caused entirely by brain activity. This is useful in terms of being able to research this area. The lack of environmental influence over the sleep stages means that we can predict, with some confidence, that they will be the same for everyone. This therefore increases the reliability of the research. Also, the emphasis on biological factors, along with the increased sophistication of brain imaging techniques, means that we can study the nature of each stage of sleep in detail thus increases the scientific validity of the research.

15. Model IDA 3 The research for the nature of sleep supports the biological approach and the nature side of the nature vs nurture debate. This is because the stages are biologically determined by electrical activity in the brain This is however prone to culture bias because cultural norms change across the world whereby the environment can influence sleep patterns and habits; for example the duration and timing of sleep may not be universal as Shin (2003) found that sleep duration in Korea was only 6.5 hours. This shows the differences in sleep changes are not universal and therefore this limits our understanding into lifespan changes if we take only the nature side of the nature/nurture debate.

16. Alternative IDA – sleep stages This research could be considered socially sensitive. This is because greater understanding of the stages of sleep and their specific functions could be useful in helping us understand and treat certain conditions that could have their roots in the deprivation of specific key stages.

17. Lifespan changes and sleep

18. Group Task Lifespan changes and sleep Present to the group the outline and research for your group 1.Babies 2.Older Children 3.Adolescents 4.Adulthood 5.Adults 60 + Think of at least 2 reasons you can give for why sleep is occurring this way at this stage

19. Research evidence Ground the research

20. Which study? You will be provided with a quote from a criticism or challenge to the study Write down the study it relates to and what evaluation point (e.g IDA) you could make as a result

21. A weak link “This research is suggesting that the grades achieved were a result of the hours of sleep. If this was the case surely every student that slept longer would get top grades.”

22. Questioning the support “ This does provide sound evidence for the decrease in REM sleep throughout lifespan. This evidence does however show that environmental factors are playing a part in the difference between children and adolescence.”

23. A Parents concerns “ This has important practical applications for schools and particularly 6 th form colleges. That said, I would be cautious in communicating this information to teenagers though. I already have enough problems getting my 17 year old daughter to study and go in to school”

24. Lifespan changes and the Developmental Approach What are the advantages of a developmental approach generally? In relation to sleep?

25. Evaluating the Developmental Approach Accounts for individual differences as a product of age Helps inform understanding and treatment (e.g sleep disorders in specific age groups) Usefulness- applications (e.g changing school day, child rearing practice, health and social care)  Determinist  Biologically reductionist as simplistic so does not account for other individual differences  Culturally bias as low generalisability

26. IDA and Evaluation What could we use? Biological Determinism or Reductionism Developmental Approach Correlation is not causation Applications

27. Reductionism Much theory of lifespan changes in sleep is biologically reductionist. It is based on research that only identifies biological measures of sleep. Often researchers are merely recording stages and cycles of sleep that occur on the EEG machine during the experimental set-up, and only use select samples of participants as only certain ages volunteer. This means that researchers are ignoring all of the other environmental factors (e.g: co-sleep, stress, noisy environments) that may be driving the lifespan changes in sleep. Researchers should therefore use a multi-disciplinary approach to studying sleep to uncover the reasons behind the cyclical differences between people and across their lifespan.

28. Wider Evaluation How do you think we could apply this research to everyday life? Why do you think the research into lifespan changes is useful for Psychology?

29. Essay This is a model essay Write down a sentence summarising each paragraph in the essay e.g Paragraph 2“The research by Smith and Loyd supports the Biosocial approach Paragraph 3 “the biosocial approach to gender supports both nature and nurture” DO NOT ROTE LEARN OR COPY INTO PACKS

30. Write an email Use theory, research and evaluation 1.Write an email to Chris Thomson arguing for Bhasvic’s timetable to be changed 2.Write an email to AQA arguing for no A2 exams to take place in the morning