Biological Rhythms - circadian rhythms Flashcards Preview

A-level Psychology (BP) > Biological Rhythms - circadian rhythms > Flashcards

Flashcards in Biological Rhythms - circadian rhythms Deck (16)
Loading flashcards...
1
Q

Who is subject to biological rhythms?

A

All living things - important influence o way people behave

2
Q

What two things are all biological rhythms governed by?

A

The bodies internal clock (endogenous pacemakers) and external change in the environment (exogenous pacemakers)

3
Q

When do the rhythms occur?

A

Some occur many times during the day (ultradian rhythms), some take longer than a day (infradian rhythms) and in some cases much longer (circannual rhythms)

4
Q

How long does a circadian rhythm last and what is an example?

A

About 24 hours e.g. the sleep/ wake cycle and core temperature

5
Q

What is the sleep wake cycle?

A

We feel awake in the day and drowsy at night - this is the effect of daylight on the body - an important exogenous zeitgeber on our sleep/wake cycle

6
Q

What would happen if the biological clock didn’t have the influence of external stimuli like light?

A

We wouldn’t know if it was day or night

7
Q

Who is Siffre?

A

A self-styled cave man who spent several extended periods of time underground to study the effects on his own biological rhythms

8
Q

what did Siffre find?

A

Deprived of exposure to natural light he resurfaced in mid September 1962 after 2 months in southern alp caves and believed it to be mid august
Decade later did it for 6 months and his free running biological rhythm settled down to one that was just beyond the usual 24 hours but he did sleep and wake up on a regular schedule

9
Q

What was Aschoff and Wever’s research?

A

Convinced a group of participants to spend four weeks in a world war two bunker deprived of natural light - all but one of the participants displayed a circadian rhythm of 24-25 hours

10
Q

What do the studies suggest?

A

That the natural sleep wake cycle may be a bit longer than 24 hours but as we are trained by exogenous zeitgebers associated with a 24 hour day such as sunlight and meal times

11
Q

What was Folkard’s study?

A

Studied 12 people who agreed to live in a cave for three weeks, they agreed to go to bed when the clock said 11:45 and get up when it said 7;45. The researchers gradually quickened the clock so an apparent 24 hour day only lasted 22 hours - not one of the participants could fully adjust to the new regime

12
Q

What did Folkard’s study suggest?

A

The existence of a strong free running circadian rhythm that cannot easily be overridden by changes in the external environment

13
Q

What is core body temperature?

A

It varies by around 2 degrees during the course of the day - at its lowest around 4 in the morning (36) and peaks around six in the evening (38)

14
Q

What does evidence suggest about body temperature?

A

It may have an effect on mental abilities - the warmer we are the better our cognitive performance

15
Q

What was Folkard’s research into body temp?

A

Demonstrated how children who have stories told to them at 3pm have greater recall and comprehension after a week compared to children who heard the same stories at 9 am

16
Q

What was Gupta’s research into body temp?

A

Found improved performance on IQ test when participants were assessed at 7pm as opposed to 2pm and 9 am