Psychology 2014

[HawthornM8]

My schools has said that we don't need to know research methods until Unit 4 so we are just working through AOS1 and we're up to the sleep dot point. I'm sort of confused as to what we're doing atm but I'm going to watch all these podcasts by 'Andrew Scott' on YouTube to catch up!

[ealam2]

No I'm not a 1/2er. I'm doing psych 3/4. We spent headstart week last year December (one week) plus this week and the first two days of school last week on research methods. I thought that this was what everyone started with? Didn't know it was until unit 4 that we needed to learn it. Maybe we're just learning it now. We're having a test on it next week.

[HawthornM8]

With Galvanic Skin Response (GSR) ... is this what it does.

The physiological response that indicates the change in electrical conductivity of the skin. Although it does not measure sweating, when you sweat more the electrical conductivity of the skin increases which gives a greater reading. For example, if you dose up on ecstasy you'd probably be sweating a lot, or the perspiration of your skin increases, thus testifying that you are conscious? I'm slightly confused as to what it measures.

Is it just meant to measure whether you are awake or asleep, or does it measure your emotional arousal or something? If someone could clear that up I'd appreciate it.

Also, I've been learning about EEG and the BATD brain waves that come with it. Now whenever I see a 'wave' I always associate it with brain waves accidentally, such as the measurements of EOG and EMG. Do you have to be able to measure or name these two, or do you just say as to whether they are awake, in non-REM or REM state.

Thanks!

[Bluegirl]

If anyone was interested I've attached two tables on sleep. Hope they help

[~V]

With Galvanic Skin Response (GSR) ... is this what it does.

The physiological response that indicates the change in electrical conductivity of the skin. Although it does not measure sweating, when you sweat more the electrical conductivity of the skin increases which gives a greater reading. For example, if you dose up on ecstasy you'd probably be sweating a lot, or the perspiration of your skin increases, thus testifying that you are conscious? I'm slightly confused as to what it measures.

Is it just meant to measure whether you are awake or asleep, or does it measure your emotional arousal or something? If someone could clear that up I'd appreciate it.

Also, I've been learning about EEG and the BATD brain waves that come with it. Now whenever I see a 'wave' I always associate it with brain waves accidentally, such as the measurements of EOG and EMG. Do you have to be able to measure or name these two, or do you just say as to whether they are awake, in non-REM or REM state.

Thanks!

It measures how easy it is for electricity to pass through your body. If you are sweating, you skin conducts more electricity. For example, if you are in an alcohol induced state, your body temperature will increase and sweating will occur and therefore high GSR. I'm also kinda confused that  a high GSR indicates higher level of consciousness...

[HawthornM8]

This may be a bit subjective, but how did you best study for the subject? I've got my first SAC on Friday for Psychology so I'm going to be going through alot of it today but I'm not sure how I should really be approaching learning and studying. My teacher made some long as booklet with all the exam questions from recent years so I'm working my way through that and am stopping every so often when I'm not sure actually how to define something, despite knowing what it means.

Also with Psychology, is it really that necessary to remember definitions (apart from like 'consciousness' and 'sleep') if you can explain what it is? I've found if  I just read the book a couple times, I'll know what they are so I can basically make up a definition on the spot, sometimes a little verbose but still fine.

[darklight]

This may be a bit subjective, but how did you best study for the subject? I've got my first SAC on Friday for Psychology so I'm going to be going through alot of it today but I'm not sure how I should really be approaching learning and studying. My teacher made some long as booklet with all the exam questions from recent years so I'm working my way through that and am stopping every so often when I'm not sure actually how to define something, despite knowing what it means.

Also with Psychology, is it really that necessary to remember definitions (apart from like 'consciousness' and 'sleep') if you can explain what it is? I've found if  I just read the book a couple times, I'll know what they are so I can basically make up a definition on the spot, sometimes a little verbose but still fine.

I think that even though Psychology is moving toward a more application-based subject, definitions are still important. They ensure that you include everything that a particular concept asks for, whereas creating your own definition may omit important parts or exemplify unimportant parts. Basically, they act as a safety net. In saying that, some people like to only memorise 'key concepts' and create their own definitions during the SAC/exam - this may help especially if you are in Year 12 and don't have as much time as someone in Year 11.

I studied for SACs via a combination of creating notes, memorising definitions, doing Checkpoints and past exam questions. Good luck! 

[millie96]

Does anybody have a technique (like a poem etc) of remembering the EEG brain waves associated with each stage of sleep?

[Paulrus]

i just used BAT-D (beta, alpha, theta, delta) to remember the order, and then if you remember that the stages alternate between being a mix of two types and being predominately one type (i.e. stage 1 nrem - alpha/theta, stage 2 nrem - mostly theta, stage 3 nrem - theta/delta, stage 4 nrem - mostly delta), then you should be fine. and then rem sleep has beta-like waves which resemble the ones we have when we're awake.
i don't think there are any poems as far as i know, but that should make it a lot easier to remember

[007]

Yeah we used B(eta)A(lpha)T(heta)D(elta).

Now nobody read this I'm just testing my memory ...

Stage 1 -
Hypnogogic State which refers to the transition between drowsiness and true sleep. May experience hallucinatory images.
Theta (medium frequency / mixture of high and low amplitude) with <50% Alpha (high frequency although lower than beta / low amplitude although higher than beta) Brain Waves
Hypnic Jerks
Irregular BReathing
Decreasing body temperature, blood pressure and heart rate.
Easily awoken - if awoken in this stage, will not believe they were actually sleeping.
Occurs for 5-10 minutes

Stage 2 -
Stage where you are in 'true sleep'
Sleep spindles occur which are short bursts of increased frequency
K-complexes occur which is an increase (high)of amplitude in a single brain wave
Regular breathing
Physiological responses continue to decease (HR/BP/BT) + decreasing muscle tension
Occurs for 10-20 minutes
Theta Brain Waves

Stage 3 -
Deep sleep begins.
Physiological characteristics continue to decrease
Theta with <50% Delta Brain Waves
10 minutes
Groggy and disoriented
Unresponsive to outside world.
Between stage 3 and 4, 20% of dreams occur, although they are rarely remembered.

Stage 4 -
Deepest sleep
Delta with <50% Theta Brain Waves
Night terrors, sleep talking and sleepwalking sometimes occur
20 minutes, although it decreases as the night progresses (in the sleep cycle, you spend less time in stage 4 and more time in REM)
Stage 3 and 4 have 20% dreams occur, although are rarely remembered.
Physiological responses continue to decrease



WOO! I remembered all of that except for a few things here and there in stage 3.

[millie96]

When asked to explain the purpose of sleep, can you talk about the restorative functions of sleep?

[brenden]

When asked to explain the purpose of sleep, can you talk about the restorative functions of sleep?

Certainly

[007]

When asked to explain the purpose of sleep, can you talk about the restorative functions of sleep?

You can talk about the Restorative theory of sleep, Survival theory of sleep and one more that I'll check my book .... ''Perhaps a combination of reasons?'' Yep, just those two.

[millie96]

How would you describe this sleep cycle? like what should we talk about?

[bellaellaella]

How would you describe this sleep cycle? like what should we talk about?

Hey! I think I remember you from the health forum last year!

I'm assuming you have to talk about the fact that the REM stages occur for longer throughout the night and that as sleep progresses, we no longer experience stages 3 or 4