Sleep Disorders

Written Assignment 2

Yumiko Cesar

Thomas Edison State College

January, 2015

PSY-101-OL010

Abstract

The topics that will be discussed in this article are: the stages of sleep and a few major sleep disorders many people suffer from today; the manner in which language is acquired; social development in children; and Erikson’s psychological stages

Written Assignment 2

During the course of these two weeks, we have read literature and watched a couple of videos regarding the stages of sleep and some sleep disorders that have been identified in the recent years of our history, the manner in which language is acquired, how a child develops and what it means to a child to have an adult presence in their life, and the different psychological stages Erikson has identified. In the paragraphs to come, we will explore these to hopefully pass the knowledge on in not so many words.

Sleep

Sleep is essential to all animals’ health, including humans. Especially humans. As humans, we tend to push ourselves a little further without sleep because “there is so much to do and not enough time” as many people would say for their reasoning of depriving themselves of sleep. The only things a lack of sleep accomplishes are a lack of concentration, exhaustion, poor memory retention, lack of focus. Sleep is necessary to all animals since it is essentially our “reset” button. There are different stages to sleep, each with their own purpose.

The first stage of sleep is a very light sleep where your eyes are closed and you can wake up easily. It can sometimes be referred to a stepping stone from being awake to being “really asleep’ or “knocked out.” During this time, the brain waves that are produced are very slow, about 3 to 7 cycles per second (cps), they can also be referred to theta waves  (Gerrig & Zimbardo, 2010). This stage of sleep is so light that if a person were to be woken up in this stage of sleep, they may report that they were not even sleeping to begin with. All of this lasts for about five or ten minutes.

The second stage of sleep lasts a while longer than the first stage, around 20 minutes. The brain waves that are produced during this stage are quite different from the first stage. They are characterized by sleep spindles and K complexes which can be identified through an EEG. The speed at which the brain is going is about 12 to 14 cps. At this point, the temperature of the body begins to go down as well as the heart rate of the person sleeping. (Gerrig & Zimbardo, 2010) These changes of body temperature and heart rate is the body’s way in preparing for deep sleep (Robinson, 2014).

The third and fourth stages of sleep are almost identical. The main difference is in stage three delta waves, or really slow brain waves measuring about ½ to 2 cps, start to make an appearance in conjunction with smaller faster waves (Stages of Sleep, n.d.). Stage three can be seen as a bridge from light sleep to deep sleep. In stage four, delta waves are almost exclusive. It is during this time that there is no eye movement or muscle activity. At the end of stage four is usually when people experience bed wetting, sleep walking, or night terrors (Stages of Sleep, n.d.).