VCE Psychology Question Thread!

[whys]

Hey guys!
I have a few questions:

1. Why does deep sleep decrease throughout the life span?
2. Why do older people tend to have more fragmented sleep (i.e. why do older people have more awakenings during the night?)
3. Why do older people tend to take longer to fall asleep?

-Chloe

1. Deep sleep = NREM stages 3 and 4. Linking back to the restorative theory, NREM sleep is responsible for restoring the body physiologically. Older people don't require this sleep as much as infants and younger children, as they are constantly growing. Therefore, the need for restoring the body physiologically decreases across the lifespan because it's not needed as much as one's earlier years.

2. If older people have less deep sleep, that means the majority of their NREM sleep is in stages 1 and 2. NREM stages 1 and 2 have low arousal thresholds. This means they are easier to wake up than someone in NREM stages 3 and 4. So, older people are more likely to wake up in response to sensory stimuli that they detect because they spend most of their time in NREM stages 1 and 2 than NREM stages 3 and 4.

3. The only reason I can think of is insomnia. I'm not really sure why older people take longer to fall asleep - I'll have to ask my teacher! I couldn't find anything in my textbook about this, sorry about that!

[cfalzon]

1. Deep sleep = NREM stages 3 and 4. Linking back to the restorative theory, NREM sleep is responsible for restoring the body physiologically. Older people don't require this sleep as much as infants and younger children, as they are constantly growing. Therefore, the need for restoring the body physiologically decreases across the lifespan because it's not needed as much as one's earlier years.

2. If older people have less deep sleep, that means the majority of their NREM sleep is in stages 1 and 2. NREM stages 1 and 2 have low arousal thresholds. This means they are easier to wake up than someone in NREM stages 3 and 4. So, older people are more likely to wake up in response to sensory stimuli that they detect because they spend most of their time in NREM stages 1 and 2 than NREM stages 3 and 4.

3. The only reason I can think of is insomnia. I'm not really sure why older people take longer to fall asleep - I'll have to ask my teacher! I couldn't find anything in my textbook about this, sorry about that!

Hi!
Thanks so much for the help! I checked with my teacher today about these questions, and she reasoned that older people take longer to fall asleep as they are not as active during the day and thus haven't expended enough energy to fall asleep quickly. Also, the prevalence of sleep disorders also tends to increase with age, so that could have something to do with them taking longer to fall asleep? I'm still not 100% sure about this though...

[Bri MT]

As you've both hinted at there ae a range of reasons why sleep onset can be delayed in elderly people - there's a pretty good list here

[cfalzon]

As you've both hinted at there ae a range of reasons why sleep onset can be delayed in elderly people - there's a pretty good list here

Wow thanks so much! This is super helpful!

[whys]

Hey! So I checked with my teacher and she said it's because the elderly have decreased levels of melatonin.
Thought you'd want to know what she had to say too. I guess you could combine all these factors into a concise answer if you were ever asked why older people take longer to sleep.

[cfalzon]

Hey! So I checked with my teacher and she said it's because the elderly have decreased levels of melatonin.
Thought you'd want to know what she had to say too. I guess you could combine all these factors into a concise answer if you were ever asked why older people take longer to sleep.

Thanks for this additional information! All of this information can definitely be combined into a strong concise answer

[Bri MT]

If the 10 marker is anything to do with elderly people and sleep I'm going to be very happy for you

[cfalzon]

If the 10 marker is anything to do with elderly people and sleep I'm going to be very happy for you

Wouldn't that just be the best luck! You can only hope!

[StaticZ1011]

What is the difference between predisposing and precipitating factors --> they seem to be similar and i cant seem to distinguish them

[yourfriendlyneighbourhoodghost]

What is the difference between predisposing and precipitating factors --> they seem to be similar and i cant seem to distinguish them

Predisposing are the factors which give the individual a more likely chance to develop the mental disorder. So genetics for example.

Precipitating however, is the factor that TRIGGERS these predisposing factors, and therefore contribute and increase the likelihood of developing a disorder. So, if the person takes drugs (precipitating factor) it TRIGGERS the genetic makeup (predisposing) and a disorder is more likely to occur,

Hope this helps. 

[NomotivationF]

What is the difference between predisposing and precipitating factors --> they seem to be similar and i cant seem to distinguish them

The best way to think of it is;

Predisposing increases vulnerability/susceptibility to a metal disorder, whereas a precipitating increases vulnerability/separability and mayb trigger the onset of a mental disorder.

[akihaki]

Hi! First post
 
Could I get some help on this question?

Phil is a forklift driver at a warehouse and is married with two children. Phil has been worried about finances since his wife told him that she was pregnant with their third child three months ago. Phil is concerned because he feels that money is already tight, and at times he feels that he struggles to adequately provide for his current 2 children. Phil has been having difficulty sleeping since his wife told him about the pregnancy, and has been waking up two or three times a night. The lack of sleep has been affecting Phil's job performance, and two weeks ago he was suspended from work after repeated warnings from his boss about clumsy forklift driving that was endangering others in the warehouse. This is adding to Phil's money worries. Phil recently saw his doctor, who diagnosed him with a generalised anxiety disorder. Phil remembers when he was a child that his father was also constantly worried about money, and often had trouble sleeping too. Phil has been working at the warehouse for a long time and is well-liked. His friends from the warehouse have been stopping by on their way home to share a couple of beers with him and give him updates about what has been happening at work. He is also still attending his weekly poker game with these friends each Wednesday.

Using a biopsychosocial model, explain how Phil has developed a generalised anxiety disorder, and how it may be treated.
Hints: consider all areas of the biopsychosocial model for how it was developed AND how it might be treated.

[NomotivationF]

Hi! First post
 
Could I get some help on this question?

Phil is a forklift driver at a warehouse and is married with two children. Phil has been worried about finances since his wife told him that she was pregnant with their third child three months ago. Phil is concerned because he feels that money is already tight, and at times he feels that he struggles to adequately provide for his current 2 children. Phil has been having difficulty sleeping since his wife told him about the pregnancy, and has been waking up two or three times a night. The lack of sleep has been affecting Phil's job performance, and two weeks ago he was suspended from work after repeated warnings from his boss about clumsy forklift driving that was endangering others in the warehouse. This is adding to Phil's money worries. Phil recently saw his doctor, who diagnosed him with a generalised anxiety disorder. Phil remembers when he was a child that his father was also constantly worried about money, and often had trouble sleeping too. Phil has been working at the warehouse for a long time and is well-liked. His friends from the warehouse have been stopping by on their way home to share a couple of beers with him and give him updates about what has been happening at work. He is also still attending his weekly poker game with these friends each Wednesday.

Using a biopsychosocial model, explain how Phil has developed a generalised anxiety disorder, and how it may be treated.
Hints: consider all areas of the biopsychosocial model for how it was developed AND how it might be treated.

Hey akihaki, i'm not sure how many marks this questions is but i'm gonna attempt it on the basis that it's 5-6 marks.

Phil has developed a generalised anxiety disorders due to the culmination of risk to his mental health from the combined effects of multiple biological, psychological and social risk factors. Phil's dad 'constantly worried about money, and often had trouble sleeping,' suggesting that Phil had a genetic vulnerability (biological risk factor), making him move vulnerable/susceptible to developing generalised anxiety disorder. In addition, the combination of stress from his financial stability as well as his difficulty sleeping (psychological risk factor) may also increase his vulnerability towards developing generalised anxiety disorder and may in fact have triggered the onset of the disorder. In addition, Phil's poor sleep (biological risk factor) may be increasing his irritability and worsening his experience of stress, which may be prolonging and worsening his mental state. However, the fact that Phil is still attending his weekly poker games with his friends each Wednesday displays that he is receiving support from his friends, which is a protective social factor. In addition, Phil could also try to gain adequate sleep (biological protective factor), which would help to promote more positive moods and increase his ability to deal with daily life stress. If his mental health progressively deteriorates, Phil could also try cognitive-behavioural therapy (psychological protective factor), in which a therapist may help replace his unhealthy/mal-adaptive thoughts/behaviours with more healthy and helpful ones, in order to ease his symptoms of his mental disorder.

[mckeng]

What is the difference between a 'specific environment trigger' and being classically conditioned? for e.g. a person being chased and bitten by a large dog, and after this experience having a phobia of dogs. This is a specific environmental trigger but is it not technically classically conditioning them to associate the dog with fear. Just wondering about the distinction between the two. idk.
Thanks !

[Erutepa]

What is the difference between a 'specific environment trigger' and being classically conditioned? for e.g. a person being chased and bitten by a large dog, and after this experience having a phobia of dogs. This is a specific environmental trigger but is it not technically classically conditioning them to associate the dog with fear. Just wondering about the distinction between the two. idk.
Thanks !

The specific environmental trigger is the situation (i.e. being chased by a dog) that precipitates the specific phobia.
Classical conditioning is the psychological process which occurs by which the specific environmental trigger precipitates the specific phobia.
They are both closely related but are not the same thing.
You could say that the specific environmental trigger is the situation in which classical conditioning precipitates the specific phobia.