The Effects of Media on Sleep Quality - Lab Report Example

? The Effects of Media on Sleep Quality of Psychology refers to the study of human behavior and the mode of thinking. In this case the psychology will be emphasized on the dreams that people have and the factors that affect the vividness of some of these dreams. The research done involves carrying out several practises before going to bed. In order to find out the effects of these practises, there will be an alternation of the behavior from time to time. Method Instrumentation The mode of carrying out the experiment involves the carrying out of different practises among different people before going to sleep. Some of these practises include the playing of video games, listening to soft music, watching a horror movie, Procedure The methods used in this experiment involve the selection of a variety of people to participate in the experiment. In this case, the people are required to indicate whether the memory they had of their dreams before and after the experiment were different. The behavior of the people who participate in the experiment before the experiment is of importance. This is because the experiment seeks to find out whether several habits done before sleeping affect our memory of the dreams we have. The general observation is that playing soft music before going to sleep increases the memory of the person’s dreams. Other activities done before going to sleep have different effects on the person’s memory of his dreams (Barrett & McNamara, 2012). Introduction Dreams occur to everybody every night. Sometimes a person can remember the dreams he or she had while at other times, the person can completely forget their dreams when they wake up. The sequence of dreams sometimes helps a person ease their stress. At other times, dreaming helps people to experience their innermost desires although the experience will be achieved subconsciously. Different forms of relaxing entertainment encountered by a person before he/she falls asleep can affect the dream sequence when the person falls asleep. These forms of entertainment mainly improve the emotional aspect of the dream, dream memory and also increasing the relaxation when they wake up. The main aim of this experiment is to show the effects of media entertainment on our dreaming process.The positivity of the dream is also tested depending on well restedness due to having a bad or good dream, hours slept and well restedness. The experiment also helps us understand the factors affected due to the inclusion of media entertainment right before sleeping in our daily lives (Garrison, 2011). Methods The method used in this research involves the participation of six participants whose ages range from 18 to 25 years old. These people then become divided into 3 groups. The first group was asked to watch half an hour of comedy, the second group needed to listen to half an hour of smooth jazz whereas the other group was supposed to play a fantasy video game for half an hour. The participants were then required to record their dreams to their best capacity. The participants were also to report their level of well restedness, hours of sleep they had and the emotions they experienced during their dreams. The participants were to undergo several surveys whereby a report about the experiment would be filed. This would then be followed by an interview. The findings would then be used to give a visual representation of the analysis and provide validity for the experiment. In a different study involving 2,546 children from 15 secondary schools, the test was done to find out the effects of television viewing, playing computer games on dreams and nightmares. Results The experiment showed that positivity of the dream and well restedness had no constant connection whatsoever.The two seem to relate since most of the participants ended up having a positive change.The results were indistinct but showed that a good night’s sleep depended on whether the subject experienced something positive during the dream. Some of the limitations include errors due to other pre sleep activities that may have been experienced by the participants. The sample size used for this experiment also happens to be very small. Generally, there seem is a connection between the positivity of the dream and the hours slept. The results also showed that the emotional content of the dreams depended on the media they engaged in before going to sleep. The people who were playing video games or watching horror movies had more emotional dreams than those who played soft music. On the other hand, people who played soft music had better sleep quality and their dreams were more vivid than those who watched horror movies (Bryne, 2009). In the second study involving 2,546 children from 15 secondary schools, 33% of the children were reported to have nightmares as a result of watching television.For the children who played computer games, 10% of the boys reported having nightmares whereas only 5% of the girls reported the same. 60% of the 13 year old children had pleasant dreams in comparison to 50% of the 16 year olds who watched television.Playing computer games resulted in pleasant dreams for most of the of the 13 years olds whereas only a minority of the 16 year olds had pleasant dreams. The influence of media on dreams that people have does not exist in people who use it excessively but affects every media user in a general perspective. These findings raise the concerns about the implications of media on children and other people (Garrison, 2011). Discussion Discussion of the Results. The results are important because they help us understand the dreaming process. It is evident that media directly affects our dreaming process but the effect is unique to every individual. Everybody that undergoes this experiment experiences a change in their dreaming process. Some of the changes are positive whereas others are detrimental to their everyday life. Each and every person should carry out this experiment and see whether they should change their pre sleep activity or they should continue living as they do. Relationship between the results and the hypothesis The causes of dreaming are unknown but the factors that lead to dreaming are known. Our dreams are affected by our activities of the day. During the day, we gather information some of which is kept and others discarded. When the mental storage is not cleared, we end up filling our brains with useless items. To process the information, the brain is shut down and disconnected completely from the entire world. This raises a challenge since a person has only one brain. Several years ago, the brain’s complexity allowed it to solve memory problems by having the night divided into different sleep types. The first type is called slow wave sleep (SWS)whereas the other one is called rapid eye movement sleep (REMS). We have the capability to dream in both phases and we do so but the compositions of the dreams differ greatly (Bryne, 2009). What we learn during the day becomes stored in the hippocampus. During the slow wave sleep the hippocampus shows movies in the frontal cortex. These movies become stored in form of dense packets of information. Events usually happen at a speed that is ten times higher than the normal rate. In the slow wave sleep form,our dreams are more stationary or have more emotions embedded on them. Dreams like being buried alive or dreaming that a beast is sitting on your chest mostly happen during slow wave sleep. Other forms of dreaming that happen at the slow wave sleep include bedwetting, night terror, nightmares and sleep walking. During rapid eye movement, the hippocamus is shut down and the frontal cortex processes the new information that has been deposited.The events that are processed happen and are processed in real time.During the rapid eye movement, these dreams feel as if they are real and also occur in real time.Rapid eye movement sleep assists in the use of previous information to creatively solve problems hence the cortex filters out the useless memories.These then become replaced by the useful ones. Emotional content that is strong helps in enhancing memories that will last for long. Slow wave sleep and rapid eye movement are both important since they enhance the memory.In order to have good memories, the quality of sleep is more important than the quantity.Many things happen that interfere with the quality of sleep hence this may not be achieved.Gender and age have a lot of influence on the dream content. Females can have dreams that have a lot of bright colors which may glitter or glow especially during menstruation. They can also see their sexual partners especially the face and hands. On the other hand, males rarely see colors but when they do, they are in form of pastels that are washed out. Males also do not see their partners in their dreams (Moorcroft, 2003). People often dream about things and people they have seen. Additionally, no one has ever dreamt of an alien from another planet. Whatever happens in our lives forms the basis of our dreams.These can be mixed to form new objects and experiences in our dreams but the parts of the dream are similar to us.The dream content also shows the concepts that we have when we are awake. Political affiliation, religions and beliefs are not likely to change during the dream. The best sleep in our lives is often experienced at the ages of eight to ten. The quality of sleep becomes worse and intense in delicate ways.Children below the age of eight years are less likely to wake up from rapid eye movement with the memory of the dream. When the children wake up from these dreams, the content is most likely to be plain, motionless and without emotions. Their dreams do not have the dreamer participating as a member of the dream until they are older than the age of eight.Dreaming develops alongside other cognitive developmental activities in life (Moorcroft, 2003). Sleep quality also depends on our love life. Slow wave sleep and rapid eye movement in women depends on whether they have a sleeping partner and if they have had a sexual experience before sleeping together. If they have a sleeping partner, their quality of sleep is likely to reduce whereas if they have a sexual experience with the sleeping partner, their sleep quality will most likely increase.Slow wave sleep and rapid eye movement in these women remained abnormal despite the differences in these experiences. In men, the quality of sleep does not reduce due to the presence of a sleeping partner. The existence of sexual contact between the man and his sleeping partner does not alter his sleep quality either. Interestingly enough, the sleep quality of a man reduces if he did not have a sleeping partner. Men have better sleep quality when they sleep with women whereas women do not benefit from the same. Women will only benefit when there is sexual contact between them before sleeping. Dreams have an emphasis on our visual take on things and what we perceive emotionally instead of proper reasoning. Our dreams do not reflect our inner thoughts, judgement or even our theoretical mindset.Some dreamers, however, have different experiences and can control their own dreams.These people have the name lucid dreamers whereby they are present and conscious in their dreams. In order for lucid dreamers to have control of their dreams, their frontal cortex has to be activated such that they seem to be awake. Scientists have not yet figured out how this happens but perhaps they will one day and people will be able to control their own dreams (Moorcroft, 2003). Conclusion As shown above, the different kinds of media experienced before sleep have different effects on sleep and dreams. The random eye movement sleep and the slow wave sleep are affected by what we go through before we sleep. Other factors come into play such as our opinions in life, tastes and reasonable thinking for a select few. Additionally, we can never dream of something we have never seen. In the study involving school children, the media affects different age sets in different ways. As discussed earlier, the different stages of brain development accept information in different ways. This shows that children’s exposure to media needs to be monitored in order ensure proper brain development. Media with high emotional content such as videogames and horror movies should be scrapped from the children’s life.Children who have computers and televisions in their rooms need to be monitored. These electronic gadgets can end up affecting a big part of their lives due to the effects that they have on the children as they grow up. The child’s brain is a delicate thing and the more it becomes exposed to damaging items in the early stages of life the bigger the chances of deforming it. Dreams are also affected by the gender of the dreamer. The different studies show great variation in the dreams of the people based on their gender. Women particularly dream about their partners more vividly than their male counterparts. Sleeping with partners affects the dream sequence and sleep quality in both men and women. It reduces sleep quality in women and this only increase when the woman has has sexual contact with the man prior to sleeping together. In men, sleeping with a woman increases the sleep quality. The study shows that the couple can enjoy sleep quality when sleeping with each if there has been sexual experience between the two. In another study conducted amongst women in relation to dreaming about their partners, women in Japan were reported to dream less about their men in comparison to other societies(Dreaming, March, 2004.). Although this study was not highlighted in the research, it shows that geographical location of a person can affect the dreaming and the quality of sleep in different people. Possible problems and limitations of the study The original study sampled a small group of people (6 people). Given that the people in the sample were not necessarily randomly selected, there could have been bias in the results they got. The hypothesis shows that people mainly dream about things they have seen. In the conclusion, it was found out that geographical locations largely affect the dreaming process. In the discussion of the results of the 2,546 children sampled, efficient results were given that showed variations in the dreaming process according to age, gender and media content. This study, however, narrows the sample to different media content hence not giving efficient results and leaving a lot to imagination. Suggestions for followup studies Studies that will be conducted later need to have a broader test ground such as gender, age, geographical location and random selection.This should be done in order to cover all aspects of the dreaming process and find out underlying causes of the dream we have. Emotional content of the dream may as well depend on the age and gender of the dreamer as discussed. This goes to show that the results of the study conducted can be biased since the people in the study may not have gender balance, different age groups and may have been taken within the same geographical location. References Barrett, D. & McNamara, P. (2012). Encyclopaedia of Sleep and Dreams. California: ABC- CLIO. Bryne, J. (2009). Sleep Quality and Quantity and Associated Factors among High School Students from South Texas. Michigan: Proquest Publishers. Garrison, M. et al. (2011). Media Use and Child Sleep: The Impact of Content, Timing, and Environment. Retrieved from: http://pediatrics.aappublications.org/content/early/2011/06/23/peds.2010- 3304.abstract Moorcroft, W. (2003). Understanding Sleeping and Dreaming. New York: Springer. Read More