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Module 1.5b

Module 1.5b Sleep: Sleep Stages

and Theories

LEARNING TARGETS

1.5-3 Explain sleep as a state of consciousness.
1.5-4 Explain how our biological rhythms influence our daily functioning.
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1.5-5 Explain the biological rhythm of our sleeping and dreaming stages.
1.5-6 Explain how biology and environment interact in our sleep patterns.

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1.5-7 Explain sleep’s functions.

sleep?
sleep?

1.5-3

1.5-3 What is sleep?

What is

What is

What is

We humans have about a 16-hour battery life before we lie down on our comfy wireless

charging pad and slip into sleep While sleeping, we may feel “dead to the world,” but we are

.

not. Although the roar of my [ND’s] neighborhood garbage truck leaves me undisturbed, my
child’s cry will shatter my sleep. Even when you are deeply asleep, your perceptual window
is open a crack. You move around on your bed, but you manage not to fall out. You maintain
a sense of time, perhaps even awakening when you wish without an alarm. And when you
sleep, as when awake, you process most information outside your conscious awareness.
By recording the brain waves and mus-
cle movements of sleeping participants,
and by observing and occasionally wak-
ing them, researchers are solving some of
sleep’s deepest mysteries. Perhaps you can
anticipate some of their discoveries. Are the
following statements true or false?
1. When people dream of performing

some activity, their limbs often move in
concert with the dream.

2. Older adults sleep more than young
adults.
3. Sleepwalkers are acting out their

dreams.
4. Sleep experts recommend treating in-

somnia with an occasional sleeping pill. sleep a periodic, natural loss
of consciousness — as distinct
5. Some people dream every night; others Angel Boligan/Cagle Cartoons from unconsciousness resulting

seldom dream. from a coma, general anesthesia,
All these statements (adapted from Palladino or hibernation. (Adapted from
Dement, 1999 .)
& Carducci, 1983) are false. To see why, read on.

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