Wednesday, January 29, 2020
Typical Dreams Essay Example for Free
Typical Dreams Essay Introduction            One way to study dreams is to study their content. This can be done by laboratory studies in which sleepers are awakened during REM sleep and their reports are tape recorded. Subjects can also keep a dream diary in which they write all they can remember about their dreams. These different methods have revealed some interesting facts about the nature of dream content.            What causes you to dream the things you dream? That question cannot be answered as yet (see Rados Cartwright, 1999). Research can point to individual cases where the dream content is obviously related to immediate events in a person’s life, but the reason why a lot of dreams occur is something of a mystery. One explanation of dream content proposes that during REM sleep specific brain neurons are activated, such as those involved in running or laughing or hearing. In an attempt to make sense of this specific neural activation, the brain produces a dream based on a synthesis of the stimulation present. Called the activation-synthesis hypothesis of dreaming, this view does not account for the seemingly random dream content that often occurs, and it is consistent with the neurological changes known to accompany REM sleep (Hobson McCarley, 2001). However, it does not explain the coherence, detail, and purposefulness common to many dreams. Studies of dream content must now recognize that dreamers may alter their content while they are actually dreaming.            For most people, the content of their dreams is beyond their control. How often have you gone to bed wishing you could dream about a particular someone, or afraid you might dream about an especially distressing subject? Sometimes in dreaming we think ourselves that â€Å"this is a dream.†Yet in the morning if we remember the dream and recall thinking that we knew it was a dream at the time, we find that we still accepted the content as plausible, even if events in the dream would be unlikely or impossible in real life. Some people are able to carry this awareness during dreaming a step further: they claim the ability to know when they dreaming and to actually control some or all of the content of their dreams. This is called lucid dreaming. In the past such claims have attracted little interest from dream researchers because there seemed no way to test these assertions. However, working with the sleep research lab at Stanford University, Stephen LaBerge, a lucid dreamer, was able to demonstrate his special ability. LaBerge told the researchers that during the dreams he would suddenly become aware that he was dreaming and that he could signal the researchers of this awareness by a prearranged pattern of eye movements. They agreed on a mixture of horizontal and vertical eye movements that he would use when he knew he was dreaming. The probability that the particular eye movement pattern would appear by chance was infinitesimally small. During the night the researchers watched the EEG records, and in one of the REM sleep periods, to their excitement and delight, they saw the coded eye movement pattern (La Berge et al., 2001). Other lucid dreamers have since been identified and are being studied.            It is known how many people have the ability for lucid dreaming. Surveys based in self-report provide estimates of between 15 and 28%. Laboratory studies of lucid dreaming usually design by asking people if they frequently are aware of their dreams while dreaming. Those who say that they have that ability are tested in the sleep laboratory, and most are able to demonstrate their lucid dreaming ability using some prearranged signal (typically an eye movement code, sometimes a respiration pattern). These studies have found that lucid dreamers are not lucid in all of their dreams; in fact, the majority of their dreams are nonlucid. Many subjects can become aware of their dreaming, but few can manipulate their dream content. Still, some studies have been successful in giving instructions about specific dream content to lucid dreamers and having them dream about those subjects. When lucid dreams occur, they are more likely to be in the longer REM sleep periods toward morning. Researchers hope to discover how lucid dreaming is possible because phenomenon has something interesting implications for our understanding of consciousness. For in essence, the lucid dreamer is partly in one state of consciousness, the dream, and partly in a totally different state of consciousness, the awareness of the dream. A practical application of this research might be an understanding of the process so that many dreamers could learn how to control their dream content (Galvin, 2002). Discussion Why people dream?            Although most dreams do not have overt sexual imagery, Freud nevertheless believed that most adult dreams can be â€Å"traced back by analysis to erotic wishes.†In Freud’s view, a gun, for example, might be a disguised representation of a penis.            Although Freud considered dreams the key to understanding our inner conflicts, his critics say that dream interpretation leads down a blind alley. Some contend that even if dreams are symbolic, they can be interpreted almost any way one wishes. Others maintain there is nothing hidden in dreams. A dream about a gun, they say, is a dream about a gun. Even Freud, who loved to smoke cigars, acknowledges that â€Å"sometimes, a cigar is just a cigar.†           Freud’s theory of dreams is giving way to newer theories. One of these sees dreams as information processing: Dreams may help store and remind our day’s experiences. Preceded by stressful experiences, REM sleep rises (Palumbo, 2001). What is more, there is â€Å"consistent and compelling evidence†that REM sleep facilitates memory for unusual or anxiety-arousing material (McGrath Cohen, 1999). In one experiment, people heard unusual phrases before bedtime and then were given a memory test the next morning. If awakened every time they began REM sleep, they remembered less than if awakened during other sleep stages (Empson Clarke, 2000). A night of solid sleep (and dreaming) does, it seems, have a justifiable place in a student’s life.            Another reason why we dream is because of physiological function. Perhaps dreams give the dead to the world brain with periodic stimulation. Stimulating experiences and develops and preserves the brain’s neural pathways. This theory makes sense from a developmental point of view. Infants, whose neural networks are just developing, spend a great deal of time in REM sleep.            Still other physiological theories propose that dreams occur from neural activity that scatters upward from the brainstem. According to one version, this neural activity is random, (Hobson, 2002). Psychologists Martin Seligman and Amy Yellen (1999) note that the seconds-long bursts of rapid eye movements during REM sleep coincide with bursts of brain activity, people report vivid experiences, usually dramatic hallucinations.            Given these visual scenes, our cognitive machinery weaves a story line. Mix in the emotional tone provided by the limbic system (which becomes active during REM sleep) andâ€â€voila!â€â€we dream. This helps explain many of our dream experiences, such as the sudden and bizarre changes in scene (triggered by a new visual burst). Dream reports by Seligman’s University of Pennsylvania students confirm that the most vivid dream images are the surprising, discontinuous aspects of the dream; other less vivid images we presumably conjure up to string the visual bursts together.            The function of dreams provokes vigorous debate, but the disputants all agree that we need REM sleep. Deprived of it by repeated awakenings, people return more and more quickly to the REM stage after falling back to sleep. When finally allowed to sleep undisturbed, the literally sleep like babies, with increased REM sleepâ€â€a phenomenon called REM rebound. The withdrawal of REM-suppressing sleeping medications also increases REM sleep, but with accompanying nightmares. Most other mammals also experiences REM sleep and REM rebound. Animals’ need for REM sleep suggests that its causes and functions are deeply biological. That REM sleep occurs in mammals (and not in animals such as fish, whose behavior is less influenced by learning) also fits the information-processing theory of dreams. All of which serves to remind us once again of a basic lesson: Biological and psychological explanations of behavior are partners, not competitors. III. Conclusion            The interpretation or analysis of dreams remains one of the most controversial topics in psychology. A number of disparate views on this subject exist, ranging from the notion that all dreams are interpretable in a psychoanalytic framework to the idea that dream content is essentially randomly generated from the memory stores of the brain and thus meaningless. We adopt a position somewhere in the middle of this controversy, we believe that dreams have meanings and somebody can interpret it. _________________________________________________________________ References: Rados, R., Cartwright, R.D. (1999). Where do dreams come from? A comparison of presleep and REM sleep thematic content. Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 91, 433-436. Hobson, J.A. McCarley, R.W. (2001). The brain as a dream state generator: An activation-synthesis hypothesis of the dream process. American Journal of Psychiatry, 134, 1335-1348. La Berge, S. et al., (2001). Lucid dreaming: Physiological correlates of consciousness during REM sleep. Journal of Mind Behavior, 7, 251-258. Galvin, R. M. (2002). Control of Dreams may be possible for a resolute few. Smithsonian, pp. 110-117. Palumbo, S.R.  (2001). Dreaming and memory: A new information-processing model. New York: Basic Books. (p. 157). McGrath, M.J., Cohen, D.G. (1999). REM sleep facilitation of adaptive waking behavior: A review of the literature. Psychological Bulletin, 85, 24-57. (157). Empson, J.A.C., Clarke, P.R.F. (2000). Rapid eye movements and remembering. Nature, 227, 287-288. (p. 157). Hobson, J.A. (2002). The dreaming brain. New York: Basic Books. (p.158).
Tuesday, January 21, 2020
finding neverland movie review Essay -- essays research papers
Analysis of Roger Ebert's â€Å"Finding Neverland†Film Review â€Å"Finding Neverland†is a recently released motion picture starring acclaimed actors Johnny Depp and Kate Winslet, and directed by Marc Forster ("Monsters Ball†) Personally, I loved the movie and It was hard to find a critic that gave the movie a negative review, so I stopped trying to find someone to argue with and I came across the king of all critics, Roger Ebert. I usually don't agree with his reviews, so I figured we would clash on this one, but surprisingly we came to agree on many aspects. He makes a point to mention Freddie Highmore and the remarkable job he did playing the angry but sad role of Peter. A very challenging role for a child that even most adult actors couldn't portray. He can make you feel so sad for him although he is acting like a brat most of the time, but he makes you feel the pain he's going through with the tears and sadness always running through his eyes. He also commends Johnny Depp for his â€Å"widely differing roles†bringing up characters Depp has played in the past which gives you a glance at how many different roles he has not only played, but was excellent in portraying. It is obvious Ebert was impressed by Depps performance but it seams he is giving the movie credit to Depp and ignoring the director. â€Å"For Depp, "Finding Neverland" is the latest in an extraordinary series of performances. After his Oscar nomi...
Monday, January 13, 2020
Discipline and Management- Different Yet Related Essay
In this essay the goal will be to compare and contrast management as opposed to discipline as well as misbehavior as opposed to behavior. The main goal will be to define and find correlations between the terms while providing the reader with a vivid description explaining the ways these terms translate into a classroom setting. Classrooms today call for teachers to find an often elusive balance between the expectations of a teacher and practices that best meet the students’ needs to help them meet the teachers’ expectations. Management is defined as â€Å"an act of managing: supervising of something†(Management, 2013) In relation to the classroom this term describes a plan of action that a teacher employs to conduct their classroom in an organized way and support students with structure and direction. The term classroom management is often thought of as the type of discipline a teacher imposes; however, classroom management refers to taking a proactive stance that prevents unwanted behaviors before they happen. A management plan incorporates the use of routines and classroom organization by a teacher in her classroom (Charles, 2011). In contrast, discipline is defined as â€Å"a type of punishment†(Discipline, 2013). In the classroom, a better definition of discipline is the actions a teacher takes to ensure that students cooperate and participate in the learning process. Discipline involves more than just a punishment for an undesirable action, it encompasses all the methods a teacher uses in her classroom to ensure students practice self-control. Both management and discipline often are used when describing the same practices in the classroom. These concepts address the relationships between student and teacher behaviors in the classroom. Management speaks of the plan that the teacher has in place to teach student the expected behaviors whereas discipline is the plan the teacher has in place to ensure that her students meet these expectations one they understand them. Behavior is defined as â€Å"manner of conducting oneself†(Behavior, 2013); by adding the prefix â€Å"mis†it is then defined as â€Å"bad: wrong†(Misbehavior, 2013). Adding the prefix to the word behavior, misbehavior is formed and describes the manner of conducting oneself badly. In relation to a classroom setting these terms describe how a student acts in the classroom. Both behavior and misbehavior describe the actions of a student either positively or negatively. Negative and positive behaviors both have consequences in the classroom. The consequences are dependent on the type of behavior and much like the terms themselves are opposites. The terms discipline and management are used to help students understand and learn what a good behavior is and what misbehavior is. Teachers utilize management techniques as a means to provide students with the tools needed to learn appropriate behavior in the classroom. Despite the use of these techniques, students do still at times misbehave, this is when teachers utilize the use of a discipline policy to correct the misbehavior and ensure students have an understanding of what is expected. By comparing as well as contrasting behavior and misbehavior as well as discipline and management, we can better understand how these terms correlate the teacher’s policies in place to help her students succeed. References Behavior – Definition and More from the Free Merriam-Webster Dictionary. (2013). Retrieved from http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/behavior?show=0&t=1368417645 Charles, C.(2011). Building Classroom Discipline (10th). Boston, Pearson Education. Discipline – Definition and More from the Free Merriam-Webster Dictionary. (2013). Retrieved from http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/discipline Management – Definition and More from the Free Merriam-Webster Dictionary. (2013). Retrieved from http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/management Misbehavior – Definition and More from the Free Merriam-Webster Dictionary. (2013). Retrieved from http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/misbehavior
Sunday, January 5, 2020
Analyzing The Portrayal Of Bipolar Disorder - 2253 Words
Analyzing the Portrayal of Bipolar Disorder in Silver Linings Playbook Micayla K. Freehan Boston University Anne Sullivan-Soydan HP252: Health and Disability Across the Lifespan November 13, 2014 More often than not, Hollywood films incorrectly portray mental disorders, usually by exaggerating symptoms and stereotyping individuals with a mental disorder. For example, Alfred Hitchcock’s classic film Psycho, in which man with schizophrenia murders guests in a hotel, influences viewers to believe that all individuals suffering from schizophrenia are dangerous. However, that is rarely the case (Polatis, 2014). Therefore, it is refreshing to find a movie that accurately portrays the true personality of and individual living with a mental illness. The movie Silver Linings Playbook chronicles the experiences of Pat Solitano, a man suffering from undiagnosed bipolar disorder who was recently released from a psychiatric facility. Although this paper focuses on Pat’s experiences, it is important to note that the film not only takes on the task of portraying bipolar disorder, but also mental illness in general with other major characters suffering from a mixture of psychol ogical or personality disorders. The film opens with Pat at Karel Psychiatric Facility in Baltimore, Maryland. We later learn that Pat was institutionalized for nearly beating to death the man with whom he caught his wife Nikki cheating on him. The rest of the film detailsShow MoreRelatedHow Does The United States Media Affects Mental Illness? Essay998 Words  | 4 Pageswill be analyzed to find any indication of a shift from misrepresentation of the mentally ill to a portrayal that does not represent them as incapable or unable to perform well socially in the real world, or in a job. Shows such as Grey’s Anatomy and Homeland will be evaluated based on the correct representation of disorders such as posttraumatic stress disorder, alcoholism/addiction, and bipolar disorder. These shows will be compared to other television shows such as Saved by the Bell that misrepresentRead MoreVladimir Nabokovs Lolita Essay1368 Words  | 6 Pagesbelieve those who act on their immoral sexual desires will blame it on their illness and not their actual judgement. This has occurred in society before where criminals convicted of murder simply blame it on their Schizophrenia or Bipolar disorder. Barbara Straumann, when analyzing the relationship between young Humbert and his lover Annabel, states, â€Å"Yet, if the Annabel story is one of his fakes, it is fabricated to deceive himself...thinking about the cause of ‘the rift in my life’ giving rise, or ratherRead MoreWhy Do People Shoot Up Schools? Essay2156 Words  | 9 Pagesresult of multiple factors such as lifestyle, socioeconomic status, and genetics. There are a few mental illness that we primarily associate with people that commit these malicious acts such as; Bipolar Disorder, Borderline Personality Disorder, Depression, Dissociative Disorder, Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, and Schizophrenia. We can investigate one tragic massacre that occurred in 2007 at Virginia Tech University. The perpetrator was a 23-year-old student, Seung-Hui Cho who moved to the UnitedRead MoreThe Sumerian Goddess Of Sexual Love And Warfare4034 Words  | 17 Pagesresponses to two primary questions: 1) how is Inana portrayed in various texts, and why is this significant? And 2) what can be learned about the nature of ancient Babylonian religion and its relationship to the people through her representation? By analyzing of a variety of primary and secondary sources, I propose that Inana is presented as a dual personality in a selection of myths and hymns, which both contributes to her part as the divine model of the undesirable by allowing her to deviate from submissionRead MoreStatement of Purpose23848 Words  | 96 Pagesfrom other forms of food restriction and obsession, namely the modern ritual of dieting and its most extreme manifestation, an eating disorder. Though not willing to evade those complicated (and controversial) parallels between modern and early modern usages of food and food symbolism to control the lives of women, I also wish to offer as an historian a nuanced portrayal of how early modern conceptualizations of female appetite were infused with contemporary, historically contingent notions of sexualityRead MoreOne Significant Change That Has Occurred in the World Between 1900 and 2005. Explain the Impact This Change Has Made on Our Lives and Why It Is an Important Change.163893 Words  | 656 Pagesrelevance of white ethnicity in the United States, not only regarding public activities like voting but also in terms of intimate behavior such as mores and manners, childrearing practices, adolescent styles, and attitudes toward illness, psychiatric disorders, and authority, even in cases where the individuals examined were not particularly aware of their ethnicity.70 The recent waves of migration are still too new to say anything definite based on the situations of existing migrant communities. The
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)