Psychology - Topic B (Dreaming)

Annotations:

• -We have conscious thoughts - that we know about and can describe. -We have unconscious thoughts - that we do not know about and cannot describe. -Our unconscious thoughts, wishes and desires guide a lot of our behaviour.

1. Unconscious

   Annotations:

   • A large part of the mind that is not accessible and is hidden completely.
   1. Repression

      Annotations:

      • -Something is pushed back into the unconscious by the conscious mind. -Not deliberately done. -Someone would not know what 'dark secrets' they are repressing.
2. Mentally ill

   Annotations:

   • -Very distressed at how little was being done for the mentally ill. -'Treatments' at the time were cruel. -Freud wanted to do better and started to wonder about mental health as opposed to physical health. -Travelled to France. -Became interested in hypnotism. -He realised the mind was POWERFUL and could cause mental health problems.
3. Dreams
   1. Content of dream
      1. Manifest content

         Annotations:

         • What the dream is said to be about by the dreamer - the story the dreamer tells.
      2. Latent content

         Annotations:

         • The meaning underlying the dream. If the symbols from the manifest content are translated by an analyst, they can reveal unconscious thoughts.
   2. Dreamwork

      Annotations:

      • -What the mind is doing whilst dreaming. -Keeping unconscious thoughts hidden and repressed. -Mind is trying to protect the person from these unconscious thoughts. -'Dreamwork' is the term for this job.
      1. Condensation

         Annotations:

         • When many thoughts and elements from the unconscious are represented in the dream in one symbol.
      2. Displacement

         Annotations:

         • When something that seems to be unimportant in the dream is made central, to shift attention from what is really important.
      3. Secondary elaboration

         Annotations:

         • How the dreamer builds a story when telling what the dream is about, adding to and changing things, which makes analysis hard.
4. Sexual thoughts

   Annotations:

   • When Freud talked about repressed thoughts, he was often talking about repressed sexual wishes and desires.

Annotations:

• -The symbols in dreams DO NOT always mean the same thing. -An individual's dream must be analysed to find THEIR unconscious thoughts and desires.

1. Analyst

   Annotations:

   • -Interpret the dream. -Look to see how displacement has changed the focus of the dream to an unimportant theme. -Might unravel secondary elaboration to get to the original experience of the dream.
2. Meaning of symbols

   Annotations:

   • -Freud DID NOT agree with the idea that general symbols all mean the same thing. -Everybody's unconscious is different and therefore will have their own underlying meaning of symbols.

1. Psychoanalysis

   Annotations:

   • Freud's therapy, designed to help release unconscious thoughts.
   1. Methods
      1. Free association

         Annotations:

         • A method used by Freud in psychoanalysis where the patient is encouraged to express a flow of consciousness. The process helps to uncover links which can then be interpreted.
      2. Slip of the tongue

         Annotations:

         • When someone uses the wrong word for something. Freud analysed these slips to help uncover unconscious thoughts.
      3. Dream analysis

         Annotations:

         • A method used by Freud to help uncover unconscious thoughts, by analysing dreams and uncovering symbols.
   2. Psychoanalyst

      Annotations:

      • -Very long job. -Many dreams HAVE to be related. -Many session have to be undergone. -This must be done before the psychoanalyst can suggest what the dream might symbolize.

1. Evaluation
   1. Strengths
      1. Unique methods

         Annotations:

         • -Freud used unique methods to uncover unconscious wishes and desires. -Used dream analysis as one of those methods. -At the time, nobody thought that phobias could be caused by mind problems. -As Freud looked for symbols hiding the unconscious, you could say his patients have him the ideas for his unique methods (they talked about recurring dreams).
      2. Qualitative data

         Annotations:

         • -Freud listened to his patients over a long period of time. -The information was about REAL life and therefore VALID. -Data = qualitative, very in-depth.
   2. Weaknesses
      1. Biased sample

         Annotations:

         • -Freud worked with well-off Viennese families. -Did NOT find out about lots of different people in different circumstances. -His findings may not ALWAYS be true of everyone in the world. -NOT generalisable.
      2. Hard to measure

         Annotations:

         • -Unconscious is not something that exists. -Hard to test and measure. -Freud's ideas are hard to test in the first place and even harder to test over and over again -Freud's ideas are 'not science'.
      3. Interpretation

         Annotations:

         • -Interpretation likely to be subjective. -Another analyst may have another interpretation. -If a different conclusion is made, it is difficult to come to a conclusion. -Science needs objective data. -Freud's ideas are 'not science'.
      4. Other theories

         Annotations:

         • There is an alternative biological theory, which is called activation synthesis.

1. Process of a neuron
   1. Step 1

      Annotations:

      • -An electrical impulse is triggered from the cell of one neuron then travels down the AXON to the end. -This impulse is also called the ACTION POTENTIAL.
      1. Step 2

         Annotations:

         • -When the impulse gets to the end of the axon it releases a chemical, call a neurotransmitter. -This is found in the terminal buttons at the end of the axon.
         1. Step 3

            Annotations:

            • This neurotransmitter has to cross a gap, called the SYNAPSE or SYNAPTIC GAP, to get to the dendrites of the next neuron to continue the message.
            1. Step 4

               Annotations:

               • The neurotransmitter, released by the impulse, goes into the gap - where it could be taken up by the dendrites OR get lost.
               1. Step 5

                  Annotations:

                  • If the RECEPTORS at the dendrites of the next neuron are 'suitable' to receive the neurotransmitter that is in the gap, then the chemical gets picked up.
                  1. Step 6

                     Annotations:

                     • -The neurotransmitter sets off an electrical signal (by changing the chemical balance at the receptor). -it is then dropped back into the synaptic gap where it can be taken back up to be used again.
                     1. Step 7

                        Annotations:

                        • The change in chemical balance (from the receptors) triggers an electrical impulse from the cell body, which then travels down to the end of the axon. BACK TO STEP 1.
2. Key terms
   1. Neuron

      Annotations:

      • A cell in the body, including the brain, that sends information using both electrical and chemical processes.
   2. Axon

      Annotations:

      • The 'cable' that leads from a cell body of a neuron down to the terminal buttons that hold the neurotransmitter.
   3. Impulse

      Annotations:

      • The electrical signal that travels from the cell body of a neuron to the terminal buttons, where it releases a neurotransmitter.
   4. Neurotransmitter

      Annotations:

      • A chemical at the terminal button of a neuron, which is released by the impulse and then goes into the synaptic gap.
   5. Synaptic gap

      Annotations:

      • The gap between the dendrites of one neuron and the next.
   6. Synaptic transmission

      Annotations:

      • What happens when a neurotransmitter released by an impulse of one neuron goes across the synaptic gap and is taken up at the dendrites of another neuron.
3. 'Lock and Key'

   Annotations:

   • -Receptors at a dendrite will be a shape ('lock') to take up only certain transmitters ('key'). -All other neurotransmitters WILL NOT be picked up.
   1. Taking drugs

      Annotations:

      • -One effect is that the drug fills up the 'lock' of one neuron so that when a neurotransmitter message arrives in the gap, it cannot fit the receptor. -This means that the message is stopped or 'blocked'.
4. Central nervous system

   Annotations:

   • -Made up of the brain and spinal column. -The CNS processes information from the senses and sends responses for the relevant parts of the body to act upon.

1. Hobson and McCarley

   Annotations:

   • -Founded in 1977. -Based on biological facts. -It says that dreams are random messages in the brain being interpreted to make a story. -Messages are activated randomly, and then synthesized into a story.
   1. Stages of sleep

      Annotations:

      • Sleep goes through about 5 cycles of four stages each, and after each cycle of four stages there is REM sleep.
      1. REM sleep

         Annotations:

         • -Rapid Eye Movement. -When the eyelids can be seen flickering very quickly. -This happens around five or more times a night.
         1. EEG

            Annotations:

            • -REM sleep is easily recognizable. -Scientists can measure electrical brain activity in the brain during REM using an electroencephalograph. 
         2. Features
            1. Random Activation

               Annotations:

               • During REM sleep, when neurons are activated randomly not deliberately.
            2. Sensory blockade

               Annotations:

               • During REM sleep, when no information enters through the senses.
            3. Movement inhibition

               Annotations:

               • The state, during REM sleep, when the body is paralysed and there is no movement.
   2. Activation-synthesis model

      Annotations:

      • A model of dreaming proposed by Hobson and McCarley where the brain is active but no sensory information is coming into it. The brain puts the information it has together to make sense of it and this is a dream.

1. Evaluation
   1. Strengths
      1. Evidence

         Annotations:

         • -REM sleep happens regularly throughout a night's sleep. -Happens night after night. -Everyone observed showed regular patterns of REM. -As this happens to EVERYONE, H+Mc felt that there must be something happening in the brain itself to produce dreams.
      2. Development

         Annotations:

         • -The theory has been added to since it was published. -Hobson (1999) said that he thought there was a 'meaning' to dreams and that some ideas generated by the brain from the random 'firing off' of neurons could be useful and give the individual new ideas. -If you wake up and have a new idea, it could come from your dreams.
         • -Hobson also suggested that this REM brain activity is genetic as it is found in everybody. -It many be an evolved feature of humans, so there has to be a reason for its survival amongst humans. -May be there to test brain circuits. -The stimulation of the brain in REM sleep must be important for normal brain functions when awake.
      3. Studies

         Annotations:

         • -The Pons and the reticular activating system (RAS) are both involved with movement inhibition during REM sleep. -This is since they are still active in REM sleep.
         • -If the neurons activated during REM sleep are those in the brain that control balance, then the dream is likely to dream about falling. -This explains why dreams seem to have a meaning. ]-They come from neurons that have a specific purpose.
   2. Weaknesses
      1. Not random

         Annotations:

         • -When reporting a dream, many say they recognize parts of the dream from events happening just a few days ago. -Suggests that thoughts ARE NOT really random.
         • -Activation-synthesis theory is based on the idea that dreams are unusual and bizarre. -One study showed that 34% of 200 dreams made sense. -Other studies show that they make sense too. -Due to the dreams finding a sense in the bizarre dream when talking about it. -However, if strange, this becomes apparent when the dreamer starts to retell the dream.
      2. Lucid dreaming

         Annotations:

         • -When people are dreaming but they know they are dreaming. -They can signal this when they realize they are dreaming -L.D has been tested and found to occur. -Idea does not fit with A-S. -Idea suggests that dreams are CONTROLLABLE and NOT random.
      3. Young children

         Annotations:

         • -Children under 5 seem to have few dreams. -Their dreams aren't very active. -Yet they have a normal amount of REM sleep. -This suggests dreams are NOT simply linked to REM sleep.

1. Methodology

   Annotations:

   • Refers to how psychology works, including how data is gathered. It involves considering 'how do we know?'
   1. Freud's theory

      Annotations:

      • -Case studies -Little Hans -Dream analysis -Free association -Slip of the tongue
   2. Activation-Synthesis

      Annotations:

      • -Neurotransmitter functioning -Animal experiments -Brain scanning -EEG testing (detecting electrical activity in the brain).
   3. How to

      Annotations:

      • In the exam, you can say how they are similar and how it is different, and perhaps what is good and bad about it.
   4. Comparison points

      Annotations:

      • -Case studies are less scientific than animal studies and brain scanning. -For example: free association needs interpretation from the researcher, whereas brain scanning, although needing some interpretation, is more objective. -H+C theory is more objective than Freud's because of the methodology used to find evidence for the theory.
2. Nature-nurture debate

   Annotations:

   • Nature - what you are born with. Nurture - What they learn or experience growing up.
   1. Freud's theory

      Annotations:

      • NATURE: -The structure of the mind, with the power of the unconscious. -It is in our nature to have repressed wishes in our unconscious.
      • NURTURE: -Unconscious desires themselves come from experiences.
   2. Activation-Synthesis

      Annotations:

      • NATURE: -All about nature: sleeping and dreaming. -Dreaming is part of the way the brain and body work.
3. Credibility

   Annotations:

   • A theory is credible if it is developed using SOLID scientific evidence.
   1. Freud's theory

      Annotations:

      • -Lacks credibility. -Seems a very unlikely theory and many reject it because of that. -THIS DOES NOT make it wrong.
   2. Activation-Synthesis

      Annotations:

      • -Credible. -Evidence comes from scanning and from laboratory studies using animals. -There is credibility in the sense that both are scientific and objective research methods. -People tend to think about sleeping as a biological feature of humans, so thinking about dreaming in that way is logical.

1. Case study

   Annotations:

   • A research method studying an individual or a small group and gathering in-depth and detailed information using different means.
2. Aim

   Annotations:

   • A statement of what the study is trying to find out.
   1. NOT A HYPOTHESIS

      Annotations:

      • A hypothesis is a precise statement of what result is expected in a study.
3. Data
   1. Qualitative data

      Annotations:

      • Data involving stories or attitudes.
   2. Quantitative data

      Annotations:

      • Data that involve numbers and statistics, such as percentages.

1. Generalisability

   Annotations:

   • Refers to findings of studies and how far they can be said to be true of people other than those who were studied. If findings are thought to be true of other people then they are generalisable.
2. Reliability

   Annotations:

   • Refers to whether findings from a study would be found again if the study was repeated. A study is reliable if the findings are replicated (found again).
3. Subjectivity

   Annotations:

   • -Refers to research methods, where the researcher is somehow affecting the results, perhaps by their interpretation. -In case studies, this is the case as they are deeply involved.
4. Objectivity

   Annotations:

   • Refers to research methods, where there is no bias, for example the researcher's own views have not affected the findings.

1. Things to consider

   Annotations:

   • -Aim. -How you could make your case study generalisable. -How could you make your case study reliable.  -What research methods could you include? -How long will it take? -How to avoid subjectivity. -How would you deal with privacy and confidentiality. 
2. Privacy and confidentiality

   Annotations:

   • -Must keep the participant's name a secret. -You could do this by using a fake name or initials. -If there is other information in the study that can identify them, then that information MUST be disguised in a similar way.
3. Strengths of case studies
   1. Valid data

      Annotations:

      • -Often about one unique person. -Information comes directly from that person -Makes the data about real-life. -Therefore makes them valid. -Many different research methods are used to gather other data. -This makes it likely that the findings are 'real'. -Control experiments provide controls making it 'unreal'.
   2. Detail

      Annotations:

      • -Very detailed. -Provide information about many aspects of someone's life and what they are like. -Case studies explore many different angles about someone, including opinions about the person. -This data is RICH. -New theories and ideas can develop from it.

1. Privacy

   Annotations:

   • An ethical guideline for studies that involve people as participants, which ensures that their names must not be recorded and they must NOT be identifiable. Privacy is linked to confidentiality.
2. Confidentiality

   Annotations:

   • An ethical guideline for studies that involve people as participants, which ensures that information gained MUST NOT be shared with others without permission. 
   1. Breaking it

      Annotations:

      • There are some occasions when confidentiality must be broken (someone else's life is at risk).
3. Competence

   Annotations:

   • A researcher MUST BE qualified and capable of carrying out the proposed research. If necessary, they must consult colleagues. 

Annotations:

• People go to these clinics in order to overcome their sleep disorders, through various techniques of therapy.

1. Medication

   Annotations:

   • -Prescribed drugs are often used to treat sleep disorders. -E.G. some drugs help to regulate the body clock.
2. CBT

   Annotations:

   • -Cognitive behavioural therapy -Addresses unhelpful thinking. -For example: if someone can't sleep, they may begin to view sleep negatively. -CBT finds a way of replacing automatic negative thoughts with more positive ones.
3. Acupuncture

   Annotations:

   • -Chinese medicine. -Involves inserting needles at certain related points on the body. -There is some scientific evidence that this treatment works and it is now fairly widely used. -Can be used to help the body clock to readjust when the sleep-wake cycle is out of step.
4. Hypnotherapy

   Annotations:

   • -Involves the client relaxing thoroughly with a therapist so that the therapist can help uncover any problems the client has. -This therapist can suggest how to overcome their sleep disorder. -This therapy is used with insomnia and parasomnias, such as night terrors.

Annotations:

• -Study was done in 1909. -Need to imagine what life was like then when approaching this case study.

1. Background

   Annotations:

   • -Hans' parents were great supporters of Freud's ideas. -Agreed to log their son's development and send Freud letter to keep him informed. -Little Hans was aware Freud was studying him. -Even sent messages to Freud. -Only met Freud once or twice.
2. Horse phobia

   Annotations:

   • -Hans' phobia was horses. -Freud analysed what Little Hans said to find out what it was in Hans' unconscious that was causing the phobia. -This was so his wishes and desires could be revealed to Little Hans and cure his phobia.  -This is traditional psychoanalysis.
   1. Interpretation

      Annotations:

      • Freud interpreted Hans' phobia of horses as being symbolic of Little Hans' fear of his father.
3. Early dream

   Annotations:

   • -Father reported to Freud Little Hans woke up in tears. -When asked why he was crying, he said to his mother that he thought she has gone and he had no mummy. -Freud said this was an anxiety dream. -The conflicting emotions of the Oedipus complex cause the boys fear and anxiety. -Unconscious wishes are repressed and will come out in dreams. -When Little Hans dreamt that his mother would not be there, he was showing his desires for this mother.
   1. Oedipus complex

      Annotations:

      • The idea that a boy from about the age of four years old will have unconscious feelings for his mother and want his father out of the way, though then fears his father and feels guilty too.
   2. Phallic stage

      Annotations:

      • -Freud thought Hans was in his phallic stage. -This is the third stage of development where the sexual interest is focused on the genital area for boys and girls. -For boys at this stage, the sexual interest is focused on the mother.
      1. Taking the mother

         Annotations:

         • Freud thought that a boy wanted to take his mother away from his father, but feared his father's anger and also felt guilty about these desires.
4. Giraffe dream

   Annotations:

   • -In the dream, there was a big giraffe in the room and a crumpled one. -Big giraffe shouted out because Little Hans took the crumpled one away from it. -Big giraffe stopped calling out and Little Hans sat down on the crumpled giraffe.
   1. Interpretation

      Annotations:

      • -Freud and Little Hans' father thought that the big giraffe was a symbol for a penis. -Hans himself denied this. -They both linked this to the fact that Little Hans' liked getting into bed with his parents in the morning -The father HATED this. -Big giraffe was father. -Crumpled giraffe was mother. -When Little Hans' took the crumpled giraffe from the big one, it symbolizes that Hans' wanted to take his mother away from his father.
      1. Evidence

         Annotations:

         • This interpretation was taken as evidence for the claim that a young boy has sexual feelings for his mother and also fears his father and feels guilt. 

1. Strengths
   1. Accessing hard-to-reach information

      Annotations:

      • -Gets information from unconscious. -Unconscious is not known to the individual so they cannot access or deal with any information there. -Dream analysis is a way of TRICKING the brain to reveal some of its unconscious wishes and desires.
   2. Accepted by the client

      Annotations:

      • As clients often agree with it, this helps them to be 'cured' of whatever they went to analysis for.
   3. Information from client directly

      Annotations:

      • -People offer dreams as part of what is troubling them. -If the dreams are thought to be useful, relevant and meaningful to a person undergoing counselling or analysis, then to that extent dreams are relevant and dream analysis is a legitimate method to use a part of a case study or therapy.
2. Weaknesses
   1. False memories

      Annotations:

      • Any memory that is not true and can be given by someone else 'remembering' an event and telling another person who then 'remembers' it as true. 
      1. Freud's definition

         Annotations:

         • Refers more to false recovered memories, where a childhood memory (abuse) is suggested by the analyst and accepted, then later found not to be true.
   2. Interpretation

      Annotations:

      • -Information may be affected by subjectivity. -Same dreams could be interpreted differently by different researchers. -If someone interprets data then they are perhaps not valid either, because they represent that person's interpretation rather than real life.
   3. Distressing

      Annotations:

      • -May take clients back to possibly stressful situations from their childhood. -Not necessarily unethical; it depends how the situation is handled.

Annotations:

• Primary sleep disorders are not related to any other problem, but are a problem in themselves.
• Secondary sleep disorders stem from another problem, such as pain, jet lag or stress.

1. Insomnia

   Annotations:

   • -Means someone cannot go to sleep or cannot stay asleep. -Diagnosed if the lack of sleep is affecting someone's activities in the day. -More common as you get older. -Prescribed drugs, mental illnesses or stressful life events can cause it. 
   1. Treatment

      Annotations:

      • -Treated by prescribed drugs. -Teaching the sufferer to relax or teaching them to focus on positive thoughts when they go to bed. -These treatments can be carried out wherever.
2. Parasomnia

   Annotations:

   • -Disorders that occur when someone is asleep. -This includes: nightmares, sleep-walking and sleep terrors. -Sleep terrors are when someone wakes up in non-REM sleep as they feel agitated.
   1. RBD

      Annotations:

      • -REM sleep behaviour disorders. -Involve violent movements and violent language. -Drugs such as benzodiazepines are used to treat RBD.
3. Hypersomnia

   Annotations:

   • -When people feel very sleepy at all times of the day. -It can be caused by: narcolepsy or not sleeping properly at night, due to breathing difficulties rather than psychological problems.
4. Circadian rhythm disorders

   Annotations:

   • -Involves disorders of the sleep-wake cycle. -If there are problems with the sleep-wake cycle, the body clock can be badly affected. -Problems can occur when people have shift at different times of the day, causing them to go to bed at different times than they should. -In other situation, the circadian rhythm disorder has no obvious explanations. -Using bright lights at certain times of the day can reset the body clock.
5. Importance of REM sleep

   Annotations:

   • -Without REM sleep, we experience disorientation and worse (paranoia). -Rats have been kept awake and have died!

1. Skills

   Annotations:

   • -Need to be able to listen carefully to people and observe them. -They must be interested in people. -The psychoanalyst needs to build a strong bond with the client. -They cannot be judgmental. -They can't get too involved in the client's problems. -They must be able to detach themselves from emotional situations.
2. Qualifications required

   Annotations:

   • -Undertake training that is approved by the International Psychoanalytic Association. -Two providers of training in the UK:  --The Institute of Psychoanalysis --The British Psychoanalytical Association. -BEFORE THIS TRAINING, you would need a degree of the equivalent of a degree.
3. Accreditation status

   Annotations:

   • -Have to go through more than one interview. -Very often those who apply for training are psychiatrists or other professionals who already work in the NHS or in a the field of mental health in some way.
4. Training to be a psychoanalyst

   Annotations:

   • -Training last four years and is part-time. -Person being trained must undergo psychoanalysis themselves for four or five 50-minute sessions a week. -Seminars and theory sessions. -For the first year the training focuses on general theory and Freud's views. -Then more theories are explored. -Final part of training is the psychoanalysis of two patients whilst being supervised by a qualified psychoanalyst.
5. Continuing Professional Development

   Annotations:

   • Psychoanalysts MUST provide evidence of CPD to show that they are keeping up with new issues and practising professionally. 
6. Who they might work for

   Annotations:

   • -Self-employed. -Don't work for the NHS. -300 qualified psychoanalysts in the UK. -Some specialize in therapy for children and adolescents. -Many have worked with people with mental health conditions.  -Many undergo training such as: family therapy, psychodrama or hypnotherapy. 

1. Who do they work with?

   Annotations:

   • -Psychoanalysts mostly work with people with mental health issues. -This includes: OCD suffers, phobias or anxiety. -Sometimes that work with people who are having relationship troubles.
2. What do they do?

   Annotations:

   • -Listen and observe, focusing on emotions that the patient shows. -Work with clients individually. -Gather both verbal and non-verbal information. -Having gathered the information, they then help the person to understand their emotions. -The understanding will release underlying issues, freeing the person from the behaviour that is causing the problem.
   1. Recording

      Annotations:

      • The psychoanalyst carefully records the information from each session.
3. Experience of psychoanalysis for the client

   Annotations:

   • -Clients undergoes analysis about 4 times a week. -Each session lasts about an hour. -Analysis can go on for a long time as there is a lot of listening and observing. -Analysis takes place in a quiet and comfortable room. -Analyst is out of site so it doesn't affect the client's information. -Each session costs around £50. -Not available through the NHS, so they have to pay it themselves.
4. The use of dream analysis

   Annotations:

   • -Client describes and talks about their dream (as well as emotions, which is recorded). -Psychoanalyst gathers more information from background, current situation or free association. -They also listen, observe and record. -Analyst draws out symbols to uncover latent content.
5. How often is dream analysis used?

   Annotations:

   • -A psychoanalyst may not always use dream analysis. -Dream is not the main focus of psychoanalysis now.  -Transference and countertransference are.
   1. Transference

      Annotations:

      • -Describes the way the client will transfer emotions (love, hate or anger) on to the analyst. -They must be prepared for this.
   2. Countertransference

      Annotations:

      • -The way an analyst is likely to transfer their own feelings back onto the client.  -The analyst must be trained to deal with this. -By recognizing which emotions are being transferred onto them, the analyst can find out what emotions are involved in any possible problems the client has.