Sleep and Dreaming | OCR GCSE Psychology (J203)
Sleep and Dreaming
- 69 questions
- 4 subtopics
- Component 02
- Component 02
Sleep and Dreaming is examined in Component 02, Studies and applications in psychology 2.
It covers sleep stages, functions and body clocks, Freud's theory of dreaming and the Wolfman, activation synthesis theory and bizarre dreams and insomnia and its treatment.
Sample questions from Sleep and Dreaming
Answer each one closed book first, then open the answer.
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Sleep stages, functions and body clocks
What is deep sleep?
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Deep sleep, or stage 3, is the stage from which a person is hardest to wake, with slow delta brain waves. Older descriptions divide deep sleep into stages 3 and 4. -
Sleep stages, functions and body clocks
How does the suprachiasmatic nucleus control the sleep–wake cycle?
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The SCN receives information about light from the eyes. The SCN signals the pineal gland to reduce melatonin in daylight and increase it in darkness. -
Freud's theory of dreaming and the Wolfman
How does dream analysis work?
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The patient describes a dream, and the analyst interprets its symbols to find the latent content. Free association about each part of the dream helps reveal hidden links. -
Freud's theory of dreaming and the Wolfman
What was the Wolfman's dream?
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The Wolfman dreamt, shortly before his fourth birthday, that his bedroom window opened by itself. Six or seven white wolves sat still in a walnut tree, staring at him, and he woke screaming. -
Activation synthesis theory and bizarre dreams
Why are dreams often bizarre, according to the activation synthesis theory?
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The signals from the pons are random, so the story the cortex builds from them is often illogical. Sudden changes of scene reflect new bursts of activity. -
Activation synthesis theory and bizarre dreams
What types of bizarreness did Williams and colleagues score?
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Each bizarre item was coded as a discontinuity, an incongruity or an uncertainty. Each item was also coded by whether it came from the plot, the thoughts or the emotions. -
Insomnia and its treatment
What are the main features of insomnia?
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Features include lying awake, waking often, waking too early and feeling unrefreshed. Daytime effects include tiredness, irritability and poor concentration. -
Insomnia and its treatment
Give three examples of good sleep hygiene.
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Keep regular bed and waking times, even at weekends. Keep the bedroom dark, quiet and cool. Avoid caffeine, alcohol and screens before bed.
The 4 subtopics
One subtopic is one session. Work down the list.
| Subtopic | What it covers | Questions |
|---|---|---|
| Sleep stages, functions and body clocks | The functions of sleep, light, deep and REM sleep, the pineal gland and melatonin, the suprachiasmatic nucleus as an endogenous pacemaker, zeitgebers and jet lag. | 17 |
| Freud's theory of dreaming and the Wolfman | The unconscious, repression and wish fulfilment, manifest and latent content, dreamwork and dream analysis, and Freud's case study of the Wolfman's dream. | 18 |
| Activation synthesis theory and bizarre dreams | Random activation in the pons during REM sleep, the limbic system and synthesis in the cortex, and Williams's study comparing the bizarreness of dreams and fantasies. | 17 |
| Insomnia and its treatment | Sleep onset and sleep maintenance insomnia and their causes, relaxation techniques and sleep hygiene, and the hypothalamus, von Economo's findings and narcolepsy. | 17 |
How the guide is worked
Answering a question from memory stores it far better than reading the answer again. The guide runs that as a fixed procedure on one subtopic at a time, about twenty minutes a session.
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Step 1 · Closed book
Cover the answers. Work through one subtopic and write down what you can. Leave blanks where you have nothing.
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Step 2 · Open book
Go back to the top. Read each printed answer and write it out in full, including the ones you had right.
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Step 3 · Closed book again
Same questions, same order, from memory. The gap between pass one and pass three is the session result.
Read the full method, the return schedule and the research behind it.
Nearby topics
OCR GCSE Psychology Active Recall Guide
Every topic, not just this one. 577 questions with their answers.