Lifespan changes SLEEP

 You have five minutes to discuss the study with your group.  What did they do?  What did they find?  How does this relate to what you have learned about the nature of sleep?  How could you criticise this study? DEMENT & KLEITMAN

 1. There will be a significant association between REM sleep and dreaming.  2. There will be a significant positive correlation between the estimate of the duration of dreams and the length of eye- movement  3. There will be a significant association between the pattern of eye movement and the context of the dream 3 HYPOTHESES

 rvard.edu/healthy/science/ variations/changes-in-sleep- with-age rvard.edu/healthy/science/ variations/changes-in-sleep- with-age SOME DIFFERENCES

 Newborns spend from 16 to 20 hours asleep each day.  Between the ages of one and four, total daily sleep time decreases to about 11 or 12 hours.  This gradual decline continues through childhood, such that an adolescent will need—though not necessarily get—about nine hours of sleep to function at his or her best.  Adults through middle age need at least eight hours, and although the elderly may still require up to eight hours, they may struggle to obtain those hours in one block. SUMMARY OF LENGTH CHANGES

 A newborn's sleep is sporadic: the need to sleep and the need to eat cycle across the day and night, with little time for anything else.  After 3 or 4 months, infants begin to develop a pattern in which sleep becomes consolidated into longer periods.  Older infants and young children typically obtain their sleep during a solid night-time session plus 2 or more daytime naps.  Generally speaking, through the toddler years, naps become fewer in number and shorter in duration, and sleep becomes more consolidated during the night.  By the age of six or seven, many children have stopped taking naps entirely. Their sleep is experienced much as it will be through adulthood: in a single consolidated block, most often at night. SUMMARY OF PATTERN CHANGES

 Newborns and infants typically spend about twice as much time as adults in REM sleep.  Interestingly, the neurological barrier that inhibits muscles in the legs and arms from contracting during REM sleep and prevents people from "acting out" their dreams is also not fully developed in newborns.  Without full inhibition, brain activity associated with REM sleep can result in dramatic twitches and movements of an infant’s limbs. Some of these are strong enough to stir the child from sleep.  Only during the second six months of life does the system develop sufficiently to inhibit dramatic body movements during REM sleep. SUMMARY OF STAGE CHANGES

 Sleep cycles, composed of REM and NREM sleep, last for about 50 minutes in children and 90 minutes in adults.  Infants’ and children’s cycles contain a relatively large amount of slow-wave (stage 4) sleep—the non-dreaming, restorative kind that is also known as deep sleep.  In early adulthood the amount of slow-wave sleep begins to decline. Elderly adults typically have relatively short periods of slow-wave sleep and fewer of them.  In other words, sleep is lighter and more fragmented with brief arousals or longer awakenings throughout the night. LIFESPAN DIFFERENCES

 One thing that changes in adolescence, is the timing of sleep. Due to changes in the circadian alerting system related to development, the preferred times for falling asleep and waking are typically delayed in adolescents  This leads to many adolescents going to bed relatively late because their internal clock prevents them from feeling sleepy until later. However, school start times are usually much earlier than the typical adolescent's naturally preferred wake time  As a result, many students must wake at unusually early phases of their internal circadian cycle and after inappropriately short sleep duration. ADOLESCENCE

Lifespan changes SLEEP

Real world applications: e.g. changing school day for adolescents? Evolutionary approach: What is the adaptive advantage for babies and/or parents in sleeping longer? Adolescent sleep changes linked to hormone production – part of the ageing process Is 8 hours sleep really the optimum amount for adults? (Kripke) How might sleep deficit in old age explain other impaired functions? Is the research into sleep patterns subject to cultural bias? Developmental approach: why is acknowledging changing with age important? Real world applications: e.g. reduction of ageing effects by improving sleep hygiene. Methodology of research into sleep patterns – is it valid? Methodology of research into sleep patterns – is it reliable? Methodology of research into sleep patterns – is it representative? Methodology of research into sleep patterns – can we determine cause and effect? AO2: 2 STUDIES, 1 REAL WORLD APPLICATION, 1IDA, 1 METHODOLOGY

 You should now use this information to complete the AO1 section of your writing frame  For evaluation, you can choose to:  Use the hand-out and writing frame provided  OR  Write independently and use your hand-out/work- booklet for guidance ESSAY WRITING