PSYCHOLOGY REVISION; FINAL EXAMS

CHAPTER 4 (pp. 181-216 of PDF)

MODULE 12: SLEEP AND DREAMS

Consciousness The awareness of the sensations, thoughts, and feelings being

experienced at a given moment. Consciousness is our subjective understanding of
both the environment around us and our private internal world, unobservable to
outsiders.
Stages of Sleep/Sleep Cycle (Each Cycle lasts 90 minutes)

NON-REM PHASE

Stage 1 Stage 2 Stage 3 Stage 4 Stage 5

The brain The deepest

Stage of transition Sleep becomes deeper waves become stage of sleep Rapid
slower, with (deep sleep).
btw wakefulness (light sleep). higher peaks
Eye
and sleep (drowsy). and lower Movement
valleys in the
wave pattern.
Characterised by
Characterized by a Lasts 10-20 We are least Increase of heart
Characterized by slower, more regular minutes. responsive rate, breathing
relatively rapid, wave pattern, along to outside rate, male erection,
low-amplitude high blood
with momentary stimulation. pressure, dreams,
brain waves. interruptions of “sleep eye balls (back and
spindles.” forth), body
paralysed rebound
effect.
With the rebound effect
Lasts only a few Lasts 20 minutes. Moderate Lasts 30 REM-deprived sleepers
spend significantly more
minutes5-10 min. Sleep. minutes.
time in REM sleep than
they normally would.

Difficult to awaken a person

from sleep as stage 2
progresses.
Sleep Requirements
Vary over the course of a lifetime; As they age, people generally need less and less
sleep.
Most people suffer no permanent consequences of such temporary sleep
deprivation.
Lack of sleep can make us feel edgy, slow our reaction time, and lower our
performance on academic and physical tasks. In addition, we put ourselves, and
others, at risk carrying out routine activities, such as driving.
Theories of Dreams
Unconscious wish fulfillment theory:
Sigmund Freud’s theory that dreams represent unconscious wishes that dreamers
desire to see fulfilled. These wishes are threatening to the dreamer’s conscious
awareness, and the actual wishes and are called the latent content of dreams that are
disguised.
Many psychologists reject Freud’s view that dreams typically represent unconscious
wishes and that particular objects and events in a dream are symbolic. Rather, they
believe that the direct, overt action of a dream is the focal point of its meaning. Yet,
brain PET scan research can support Freud’s concept. The high activation of
emotional and motivational centres of the brain during dreaming makes it more
plausible that dreams may reflect unconscious wishes and instinctual needs, just as
Freud suggested (Braun et al., 1998; Occhionero, 2004; Wehrle et al., 2007).
Dreams-for-survival theory:
The theory suggests that dreams permit information that is critical for our daily
survival to be reconsidered and reprocessed during sleep. According to this theory,
dreams represent concerns about our daily lives, illustrating our uncertainties,
indecisions, ideas, and desires. Dreams are seen, then, as consistent with everyday
living. Rather than being disguised wishes, as Freud suggested, they represent key
concerns growing out of our daily experiences (Winson, 1990; Ross, 2006).
Research supports the dreams-for-survival theory, suggesting that certain dreams
permit people to focus on and consolidate memories, particularly dreams that
pertain to “how-to-do-it” memories related to motor skills.
Activation-synthesis theory:
The psychiatrist J. Allan Hobson’s theory that the brain produces random
electrical energy during REM sleep that stimulates memories lodged in various
portions of the brain (possibly as a result of changes in the production of particular
neurotransmitters).
Hobson does not reject the unconscious wishes sleep theory of Freud, but suggests
that the particular scenario a dreamer produces is not random but instead is a clue to
the dreamer’s fears, emotions, and concerns. Hence, what starts out as a random
process culminates in something meaningful.
Sleep Disturbances: Slumbering Problems

Insomnia Narcolepsy

Sleep Apnia

Night Terrors
Sleep Walking

Biological Rhythms
Rhythm; a change that is repeated with a similar pattern and a level of predictability
of when sth will happen and to what degree.

Types of Biological Rhythms

Ultradian Circadian Infradian Circannual

Occurs more than once a Occurs approx. every Occurs more than Occurs approx.
day. 24 hours. every 24 hours and yearly.
less than yearly.
Term

Eating, Body Temperature, Sleep-Wake Circle, Menstrual Cycle. Hibernation Cycle

Smoking a cigarette-the Dream Cycles, in Animals,
nicotine effect, Heartbeats. Walking, Hormone Seasonal Affective
Examples

Production, Blood Cycle (mood

Pressure. disorder, severe
depression).
The brain’s
Superchiasmatic
Functions

Nucleus (SCN)
controls circadian
rhythms.
Daydreams: Dreams without sleep
Daydreams: Fantasies that people construct while awake. Unlike dreaming that
occurs during sleep, daydreams are more under people’s control.
MODULE 13: Hypnosis and Meditation
Introduction to Hypnosis:
Hypnosis: A trancelike state of heightened susceptibility to the suggestions of others.
However, despite their compliance when hypnotized, people do not lose all will of
their own. They will not perform antisocial behaviours, and they will not carry
out self-destructive acts. People will not reveal hidden truths about themselves,
and they are capable of lying.

What is hypnosis, and are hypnotized people in a different state of consciousness?

Hypnosis produces a state of heightened susceptibility to the suggestions of the
hypnotist. Under hypnosis, significant behavioural changes occur, including increased
concentration and suggestibility, heightened ability to recall and construct images,
lack of initiative, and acceptance of suggestions that clearly contradict reality.

Hypnosis; used successfully to solve practical human problems applied to areas such
as:
1. Controlling pain
Patients suffering from chronic pain, relieve pain or gain a sense of control
over their symptoms, useful during childbirth and dental procedures.
2. Reducing smoking
Although it hasn’t been successful in stopping drug and alcohol abuse,
hypnosis sometimes helps people stop smoking through hypnotic suggestions
that the taste and smell of cigarettes are unpleasant.
3. Treating psychological disorders
Hypnosis sometimes is used during treatment for psychological disorders. For
example, it may be employed to heighten relaxation, reduce anxiety, increase
expectations of success, or modify self-defeating thoughts.
4. Assisting in law enforcement
Witnesses and victims are sometimes better able to recall the details of a crime
when hypnotized. However, hypnotic recollections may also be inaccurate,
just as other recollections are often inaccurate. Consequently, the legal status
of hypnosis is unresolved.
5. Improving athletic performance
Athletes sometimes turn to hypnosis to improve their performance. For
example, some baseball players have used hypnotism to increase their
concentration when batting, with considerable success.
Meditation; Regulating our own State of consciousness:
Meditation: A learned technique for refocusing attention that brings about an altered
state of consciousness. Meditation typically consists of the repetition of a mantra—
a sound, word, or syllable—over and over. In other forms of meditation, the focus
is on a picture, flame, or specific part of the body. Regardless of the nature of the
particular initial stimulus, the key to the procedure is concentrating on it so
thoroughly that the meditator becomes unaware of any outside stimulation and
reaches a different state of consciousness.
After meditation; people report feeling thoroughly relaxed, sometimes relate that
they have gained new insights into themselves and the problems they are facing, long-
term practice of meditation may even improve health due to biological changes it
produces (during meditation, oxygen usage decreases, heart rate and blood pressure
decline, and brain-wave patterns change).
Anyone can meditate by following a few simple procedures. The fundamentals
include sitting in a quiet room with the eyes closed, breathing deeply and
rhythmically, and repeating a word or sound—such as the word one—over and over.
Practiced twice a day for 20 minutes, the technique is effective in bringing about
relaxation.
Common Goal; suspension from the bonds of everyday awareness and access to an
altered state of consciousness.
Effects of meditation;
 Meditation is a learned technique for refocusing attention that brings about
an altered state of consciousness.
 Different cultures have developed their own unique ways to alter states of
consciousness.
MODULE 14: Drug Use; The Highs and Lows of Consciousness
Psychoactive Drugs
o influence a person’s emotions, perceptions, and behaviour
o Example of such drug: coffee, beer.

Addictive drugs
o Produce a biological or psychological dependence in the user
o Withdrawal from them leads to a craving for the drug that, in some cases,
may be nearly irresistible.
Psychologically based addictions are those in which people believe that they need
the drug to respond to the stresses of daily living. Although we generally associate
addiction with drugs such as heroin, everyday sorts of drugs, such as caffeine (found
in coffee) and nicotine (found in cigarettes), have addictive aspects as well (Li et al.,
2007).
Categories Drugs:

i. Stimulants: Drug Highs

Stimulants: Drugs that have an arousal effect on the central nervous system, causing
a rise in heart rate, blood pressure, and muscular tension (e.g. Caffeine, nicotine).
Caffeine Reactions:
 Increase in attentiveness
 Decrease in Reaction time
 Improvement in mood
Nicotine:
 Its soothing effects makes it an addictive stimulant
 Nicotine activates neural mechanisms similar to those activated by cocaine
Amphetamines (e.g. Dexedrine and Benzedrine):
 Strong stimulants
 In small quantities they stimulate the central nervous system and bring about a
sense of energy and alertness, talkativeness, heightened confidence, and a
mood “high.” They increase concentration and reduce fatigue. Amphetamines
also cause a loss of appetite, increased anxiety, and irritability.
 When taken over long periods of time, amphetamines can cause feelings of
being persecuted by others, as well as a general sense of suspiciousness.
 People taking amphetamines may lose interest in sex. If taken in too large a
quantity, amphetamines overstimulate the central nervous system to such an
extent that convulsions and death can occur
 Methamphetamine; dangerous street drug
Cocaine:
 Inhaled or “snorted” through the nose, smoked, or injected directly into the
bloodstream.
 It is rapidly absorbed into the body and takes effect almost immediately.
 When used in relatively small quantities, cocaine produces feelings of
profound psychological well-being, increased confidence, and alertness.
Cocaine produces this “high” through the neurotransmitter dopamine.
 Dopamine is one of the chemicals that transmit between neurons messages
that are related to ordinary feelings of pleasure. Normally when dopamine is
released, excess amounts of the neurotransmitter are reabsorbed by the
releasing neuron. However, when cocaine enters the brain, it blocks
reabsorption of leftover dopamine. As a result, the brain is flooded with
dopamine produced pleasurable sensations.
  However, there is a steep price to be paid for the pleasurable effects of
cocaine.
 The brain may become permanently rewired, triggering a psychological and
physical addiction in which users grow obsessed with obtaining the drug. Over
time, users deteriorate mentally and physically. In extreme cases, cocaine can
cause hallucinations—a common one is of insects crawling over one’s body.
Ultimately, an overdose of cocaine can lead to death.
PRINT P. 206 (PDF)
2. Sedatives/ Depressants: Drug Lows
Depressants: Drugs that slow down the nervous system.
 Small doses result in at least temporary feelings of intoxication/drunkenness
along with a sense of euphoria and joy.
 When large amounts are taken, however, speech becomes slurred and muscle
control becomes disjointed, making motion difficult. Ultimately, heavy users
may lose consciousness entirely.
Alcohol:
 Increases their sense of sociability and well-being.
 The discrepancy between the actual and the perceived effects of alcohol lies in
the initial effects it produces in the majority of individuals who use it: release
of tension and stress, feelings of happiness, and loss of inhibitions.
 As the dose of alcohol increases, however, the depressive effects become more
pronounced.
 People may feel emotionally and physically unstable. They also show poor
judgment and may act aggressively. Moreover, memory is impaired, brain
processing of spatial information is diminished, and speech becomes slurred
and incoherent. Eventually they may fall into a stupor and pass out. If they
drink enough alcohol in a short time, they may die of alcohol poisoning.
 Alcoholics, people with alcohol-abuse problems, come to rely on alcohol and
continue to drink even though it causes serious difficulties. In addition, they
become increasingly immune to the effects of alcohol. Consequently,
alcoholics must drink progressively more to experience the initial positive
feelings that alcohol produces.
Barbiturates:
 Frequently prescribed by physicians to induce sleep or reduce stress,
barbiturates produce a sense of relaxation.
Rohypnol:
 the “date rape drug”; when it is mixed with alcohol, it can prevent victims
from resisting sexual assault. Sometimes people who are unknowingly given
the drug are so incapacitated that they have no memory of the assault.
3. Opiates/Narcotics: Relieving Pain and Anxiety
Narcotics: Drugs that increase relaxation and relieve pain and anxiety (e.g. morphine,
and heroin).
Heroin users usually inject the drug directly into their veins with a hypodermic
needle. The immediate effect has been described as a “rush” of positive feeling,
similar in some respects to a sexual orgasm—and just as difficult to describe. After
the rush, a heroin user experiences a sense of well-being and peacefulness that lasts
three to five hours.
Possible treatment: Use of Methadone; Methadone is a synthetic chemical that
satisfies a heroin user’s physiological cravings for the drug without providing the
“high” that accompanies heroin. When heroin users are placed on regular doses of
methadone, they may be able to function relatively normally. The use of methadone
has one substantial drawback, however: Although it removes the psychological
dependence on heroin, it replaces the biological addiction to heroin with a biological
addiction to methadone.
4. Hallucinogens: Psychedelic Drugs
Hallucinogen: A drug that is capable of producing hallucinations, or changes in the
perceptual process (e.g. marijuana)
Marijuana:
 Typically smoked in cigarettes or pipes, although it can be cooked and eaten.
 The effects of marijuana vary from person to person, but they typically consist
of feelings of euphoria and general well-being. Sensory experiences seem
more vivid and intense, and a person’s sense of self-importance seems to
grow. Memory may be impaired, causing users to feel pleasantly “spaced out.”
Yet, the effects are not universally positive. Individuals who use marijuana
when they feel depressed can end up even more depressed, because the drug
tends to magnify both good and bad feelings.
 Long-term associated risks: affects the brain, decreases the production of the
male sex hormone testosterone (potentially affecting sexual activity and sperm
count).
MDMA (“Ecstasy”) and lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD, or “acid”):
 Both drugs affect the operation of the neurotransmitter serotonin in the brain,
causing an alteration in brain-cell activity and perception.
 Ecstasy users report a sense of peacefulness and calm. People on the drug
report experiencing increased empathy and connection with others, as well as
feeling more relaxed, yet energetic, some researchers have found declines in
memory and performance on intellectual tasks, and such findings suggest that
there may be long-term changes in serotonin receptors in the brain.
 LSD, which is structurally similar to serotonin, produces vivid hallucinations.
Perceptions of colours, sounds, and shapes are altered so much that even the
most mundane experience—such as looking at the knots in a wooden table—
 can seem moving and exciting. Time perception is distorted, and objects and
people may be viewed in a new way, with some users reporting that LSD
increases their understanding of the world.
 Furthermore, people occasionally experience flashbacks, in which they
hallucinate long after they initially used the drug.
6. Steroids
CHAPTER 12 (p. 498-533 of PDF)
MODULE 37: Normal Versus Abnormal; Making the Distinction
Definitions of Abnormality:
1) Abnormality as deviation from the average; The difficulty with this
definition is that some statistically rare behaviours clearly do not lend
themselves to classification as abnormal.

2) Abnormality as deviation from the ideal; This sort of definition considers

behavior abnormal if it deviates enough from some kind of ideal or cultural
standard. However, society has few standards on which people universally
agree. Furthermore, standards that do arise change over time and vary across
cultures. Thus, the deviation-from-the-ideal approach is also inadequate.

3) Abnormality as a sense of personal discomfort; A more useful definition

concentrates on the psychological consequences of the behavior for the
individual. In this approach, behavior is considered abnormal if it produces a
sense of personal distress, anxiety, or guilt in an individual—or if it is harmful
to others in some way. Even a definition that relies on personal discomfort has
drawbacks, though, because in some especially severe forms of mental
disturbance, people report feeling wonderful, even though their behavior
seems bizarre to others. In such cases, a personal state of well-being exists, yet
most people would consider the behavior abnormal.

4) Abnormality as the inability to function effectively; Most people are able to

feed themselves, hold a job, get along with others, and in general live as
productive members of society. Yet there are those who are unable to adjust to
the demands of society or function effectively. Therefore, a behavior can be
viewed as abnormal, even if one has chosen to live this way.

5) Abnormality as a legal concept; To the judicial system, the distinction

between normal and abnormal behavior rests on the definition of insanity,
which is a legal, but not a psychological, term. The definition of insanity
varies from one jurisdiction to another.
Because of the imprecision of this definition, it’s best to view abnormal behavior and
normal behavior as marking two ends of a continuum rather than as absolute states.
Behavior should be evaluated in terms of gradations, ranging from fully normal
 functioning to extremely abnormal behavior. Behavior typically falls somewhere
between those extremes.
Perspectives on Abnormality: From Superstition to science
Perspectives on Psychological Disorders

Perspective Description

Medical Perspective Assumes that physiological causes are at the root of psychological disorders.

Psychoanalytic Perspective Argues that psychological disorders stem from childhood conflicts.

Behavioural Perspective Assumes that abnormal behaviours are learned responses.

Cognitive Perspective Assumes that cognitions (people’s thoughts and beliefs) are central to
psychological disorders.

Humanistic Perspective Emphasizes people’s responsibility for their own behavior and the need to self-
actualize.
Sociocultural Perspective Assumes that behavior is shaped by family, society, and culture

Classifying Abnormal Behaviour: The ABCs of DSM

Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-IV/V); used to
classify and diagnose abnormal behaviour.
Categories of Disorders:
 Anxiety Disorders (Phobias, OCD, GAD)
 Somatoform Disorders (Hypochondriasis, Conversion Disorder)
 Dissociate Disorders (DID)
 Mood Disorders/Affective Disorders (Depression, Mania, Bipolar Disorder)
 Schizophrenia and Psychotic Disorders
 Personality
 Sexual
 Substance-related
 Dementia, amnesia, and other cognitive disorders
PRINT PAGE 505 (PDF)
THE SHORTCOMINGS OF DSM-IV-TR:

Although DSM-IV-TR was developed to provide more accurate and consistent

diagnoses of psychological disorders, it has not been entirely successful nd consistent
diagnoses of psychological disorders, it has not been entirely successful. For instance,
critics charge that it relies too much on the medical perspective. Because it was drawn
up by psychiatrists—who are physicians—some condemn it for viewing
psychological disorders primarily in terms of the symptoms of an underlying
physiological disorder. It also does not fully take into account the advances in
behavioural neuroscience that have identified the genetic underpinnings of some
psychological disorders. Moreover, critics suggest that DSM-IV-TR
compartmentalizes people into inflexible, all-or-none categories, rather than
considering the degree to which a person displays psychologically disordered
behaviour. Other concerns with DSM-IV-TR are subtler, but equally important. For
instance, some critics argue that labelling an individual as abnormal provides a
dehumanizing, lifelong stigma. Furthermore, after an initial diagnosis has been made,
mental health professionals, who may concentrate on the initial diagnostic category,
could overlook other diagnostic possibilities. Still, despite the drawbacks inherent in
any labelling system, DSM-IV-TR has had an important influence on the way in
which mental health professionals view psychological disorders. It has increased both
the reliability and the validity of diagnostic categorization. In addition, it offers a
logical way to organize examination of the major types of mental disturbance.
MODULE 38: The Major Psychological Disorders
a. Anxiety disorder: The occurrence of anxiety without an obvious external
cause, affecting daily functioning (Phobic Disorder, Panic Disorder,
Generalised Anxiety Disorder, OCD).
Causes of Anxiety Disorders: PTSD
b. Somatoform disorders: Psychological difficulties that take on a physical
(somatic) form, but for which there is no medical cause (Hypochondriasis; A
disorder in which people have a constant fear of illness and a preoccupation
with their health Conversion disorder: A major somatoform disorder that
involves an actual physical disturbance, such as the inability to use a sensory
organ or the complete or partial inability to move an arm or leg).
c. Dissociative disorders: Psychological dysfunctions characterized by the
separation of different facets of a person’s personality that are normally
integrated (Dissociative identity disorder/DID; A disorder in which a person
displays characteristics of two or more distinct personalities, Dissociative
amnesia; A disorder in which a significant, selective memory loss occurs.