A2

Biopsychology

● Biological Rhythms
● The Brain
 Biological Rhythms - Circadian Rhythms
Discuss research into circadian rhythms
A biological rhythm is a change in the
body processes or behaviour in response
to cyclical changes within the
environment.

Chronobiology

Chrono- time

Biology- study of living things

Intro this week and PREP to read and complete evaluation

 What do you need to know?
• Biological rhythms - introduction
• Circadian rhythms - The sleep/wake
cycle
• Research into the sleep/wake cycle
• Practical application of research
findings - shift work and jet lag
• Evaluation of research
 Biological Rhythms - Introduction
All living organisms - plants, animals and people -
are subject to biological rhythms and these exert an
important influence on the ways in which the body
system behaves, this includes the 24-hour cycle of
sleep and rest calleD CIRCADIAN RHYTHMS. (Circa-
‘almost’ Dian ‘day’
All biological rhythms are regulated and governed by
two things:
1. Endogenous pacemakers - The body’s internal body
clocks that regulate biological rhythms e.g.
suprachiasmatic nucleus - detects light, even
when eyes are closed.
2. Exogenous zeitgebers - External factors in the
environment which reset our biological clocks
e.g. light, social cues
We will be covering this
in more detail SOON!
 AO1: DELETE INCORRECT WORD

• Circadian rhythms are a biological version of a computer/clock which are

endogenous/exongenous. This means that they are generated from outside/within the

body. Circadian rhythms are found inside most living cells, plants, animals and

humans. Their origin dates back 3.5 billion years. Rhythms are a response to the most

predictable condition of life on earth, cold/dark at night and light/hotin the day.

They promote the best use of daylight hours and rest/energy in the darkness when

cell/mental reparation and memory/ adjustment can be carried out for the next day.

Daylight regulates the clock, and modern research has looked at the effect of

bright/artificial light on humans and how far that may disrupt our sleep and health.

Circadian means a full day/almost a day is a biological process which is driven by an

internal oscillator which can persist and alter as periodicity of light and dark

change, i.e.as days get shorter in the winter/summer.

 AO1: DELETE INCORRECT WORD

• Circadian rhythms are a biological version of a clock which are

endogenous. This means that they are generated from within the body.

Circadian rhythms are found inside most living cells, plants, animals and

humans. Their origin dates back 3.5 billion years. Rhythms are a response

to the most predictable condition of life on earth dark at night and light

in the day. They promote the best use of daylight hours and rest in the

darkness when cell reparation and memory adjustment can be carried out for

the next day. Daylight regulates the clock, and modern research has looked

at the effect of artificial light on humans and how far that may disrupt

our sleep and health. Circadian means a ‘almost a day’ and is driven by an

internal oscillator which can persist and alter as periodicity of light

and dark change, i.e.as days get shorter in the winter.

Circadian Rhythms - 24 hour cycles
1) SLEEP-WAKE CYCLE

The sleep/wake cycle:

Feeling drowsy at night
time and alert during the
day demonstrates the effect
of daylight.
But what if we tried to
change this?
What is the biological
clock was ‘left to its own What if we were exposed to NO light
devices’? and had no idea what time of day it
was?
 SLEEP/WAKE CYCLE - cycles between
sleepiness and alertness

For diurnal
species,
like humans,
active
during the
day, the CR
starts ‘gets
quicker’
just before
waking

‘Gets slower’
Sleep-pressure builds
When it’s dark at night, your eyes send a signal to
the hypothalamus that it’s time to feel tired. Your
brain, in turn, sends a signal to your body to
release melatonin, which makes your body tired and
sleepy. 

A part of your hypothalamus regulates your circadian

rhythm -the suprachiasmatic nucleus
Endogenous pacemaker
 Entrainment is the
synchronisation or alignment of
the internal biological clock
rhythm, to external time cues,
such as the natural dark-light cycle.
-Tiny piece of brain anatomy
registers information about light and
dark (via the optic nerve)
-Communicates chemically with other
brain areas and orchestrates
everything in the body in terms of
light exposure
-If something goes wrong- all other
rhythms become out-of-whack
-Most affected by blue light

Sits above the optic chiasm (here

optic nerves cross) in the
hypothalamus-

SUPRACHIASMATIC NUCLEI

This is a _____ed_____ structure of 50,000 cells

which together form the ____________ _________. The
SCN generates ____ hour oscillations. If the SCN is
damaged by _________ for example, people will
experience dissolution and collapse of circadian
rhythms
 SCN=Molecular clock
AO1 extra summarise this with annotation to your sheet for an
extra challenge!

The central clock ticks by creating molecules. These

molecules get broken down by other molecules in the
body.
This takes approximately 24 hours.
This molecular cycle which determines the length of
your rhythm i.e. your chronotype-
(whether you’re a night owl or a lark.
This clock is re-set by the light/dark cycle.

(Early risers = less than 24hrs Late risers = longer than 24hrs)
Camping studies suggest that even night owls become more
like larks due to daylight exposure and no artificial
light.
Melatonin helps to tell organs and tissues that night is
approaching, so they sleep earlier.
 Circadian Rhythms - 24 hour cycles
Two examples of circadian rhythms:
1) Sleep/wake cycle

2) Core body temperature

The sleep/wake cycle:

Feeling drowsy at night
time and alert during
the day demonstrates the
effect of daylight.
But what if we tried to
change this? What if the
biological clock was
‘left to its own What if we were exposed to NO light
devices’? and had no idea what time of day it
FREE RUNNING? was?
AO2 application
What could we use for evaluation?
 Michel Siffre - The Cave Study

In 1975, a French speleologist named Michel Siffre spent 179

days living in total isolation in a subterranean cave in Texas,
without access to clock, calendar, or sun. (This was his second
study)
Sleeping and eating only when his body told him to, his goal What is
was to discover how the natural rhythms of human life a
free-ru
would be affected by living “beyond time.”in the absence of nning
exogenous zeitgebers cycle?
 Michel Siffre - The Cave Study
His findings were:
• He settled into a sleep/wake cycle of
25 to 32 hours “My sleep was perfect!
My body chose by itself when to sleep
and when to eat and when to rise.”
Conclusion:
• Supports the assumption that
endogenous pacemakers exert an
influence on circadian rhythms
 CIRCADIAN SLEEP- ENDOGENOUS SUPRACHIASMATI Exogenous
WAKE PACEMAKER C zeitgeber
NUCLEUS

ENTRAINMENT LIGHT- MELATONIN MICHEL SIFFRE FREE-RUNNING

DARK

CORE BODY
TEMPERATURE

AO1 RECAP
 ☹
• Artificial light may affect the
circadian rhythm in the same way as
actual daylight.

• In Siffre’s early studies, artificial

light sources were not eliminated as he
used artificial light when he was awake.
It is likely that this could have
suppressed the production of
_________________. Therefore, artificial
light is a confounding variable that
possibly has an impact on the findings.
Ethical issues ☹
Extra research…. Supports or challenge?
Aschoff and Wever (1976)
Placed student participants
in a bunker for 4 weeks with
no natural light.

They settled into a

sleep/wake cycle of between
But what about the
25 and 27 hours (apart from role of exogenous
one which extended to 29 zeitgebers?
hours).
They still used
artificial light,
This suggests that endogenous typical meal
pacemakers control the times….perhaps these
sleep/wake cycle in the were confounding
variables?
absence of light cues.
 Research: Circadian rhythms are HARDCORE!!
• Folkard et al (1985) isolated 12
participants from natural light for
3 weeks (dark cave), manipulating
the clocks so that only 22 hours
passed a day.

• None of the Ps could adjust

conformably to the pace of the
clock, showing the strength of the
circadian rhythm as a free-running
cycle.
• The findings question the extent to
which our sleep/wake cycle can be
overridden by ‘exogenous
zeitgebers’ like social cues
 ☹

• Individual differences exist in

sleep/wake cycles, for example Duffy et
al (2000) found that early risers prefer
6am to 10pm, whereas late risers prefer
10am until 1pm. Also, individual cycles
can vary, in some cases from 13-65 hours.
She plays a part in this too. Therefore the
findings from sleep studies, however
insightful, may not apply to all
individuals.
 Extra AO3 for
the
self-challengers!

Remember Campbell found them behind the knee!

“Little is known about the output pathway in

which the clock communicates with the
external world. We know that light sets the
internal clock. i.e body is put to sleep
or woken up via information from the eye.
However, how exactly does the ‘clock’
communicate with the body’s circadian
network?
There is a lot about the biology, that we
know little about.
Suggests we're at the beginning of really
understanding this.
 The AO3: You need 4 coloured highlighters or pens

• Read through ALL the points….then the

explanations, then the elaborations
and/or the ‘however’ comments.
• The match the information to create
developed points.
Your prep
Meets scientific Ethics
criteria ☺ Harmful ☹
Confounded by Ends justify
surgery itself means?
☹
Research in to End and Ex
AO1: JET LAG
Jet lag occurs when we travel rapidly across time zones. Flying from

London to Bangkok takes around 11 hours. If you leave London at noon,

you will arrive 11 hours later and your body will feel as though it is

11pm, however it will be 6am in Bangkok . Your body will be ready for

sleep when it is morning. This conflict between local time and your

biological time leads to stress, confusion and impaired cognitive

performance. Disruption of the circadian rhythm by jet leg can affect

the concentration and alertness potentially affecting business and

social relationships. The lag will last as long as it takes the

body to re-synchronise. The quickest way to do is to follow the local

exogenous zeitgebers, i.e. meal times, rather than your endogenous

pacemaker.
AO1: JET LAG Phase advance vs
Delay
Recht et al 1995-
Consequences of Jet Lag
AO1 or AO3
SCRD- sleep and circadian
rhythm disorder
De-synchronisation affects
overall health and it may
be the root cause of
cancer and other
diseases. Research has
shown that there is a
fundamental overlap
between the mechanisms
that predispose you to
poor mental health and
those that generate a
normal sleep-wake cycle.
 You are
Effects of shift work doing the
opposite to
what is
happening
internally.

What can you

remember?
Effects of shift work on SCRD
You are
doing the
opposite to
what is
happening
internally.
High at night.
Shutting down
bodily systems to
get it ready for
sleep. Feeling tired
physically and
mentally
Effects of shift work
You are
doing the
opposite to
what is
happing
internally.
High in the day to
give your body
energy. Low at
night when it’s
not needed. This
cycle is circadian
and cannot be
easily overridden.
High levels can
affect immune
 Implications of sleep
disruption for understanding
The
mental
growing a An
illness
Understanding of Research with young
neuroscience of
bi-polar sufferers show
sleep is
that they already
informing the way
experienced disruption and
we think about
causes and de-synchronisation before
treatments for diagnosis of illness.
mental illness.
Furthermore, This has implications
mutated Sz gene for therapy which can
also negatively aim to stabilise sleep
affects sleep to alleviate symptoms
and make recovery more
possible.
 1. There will be a difference on the performance at work, attention
levels and family relationship scores between those who were
given drug treatment and those given the placebo.
2.
Independent measures design – one set of participants in Group A
who were given drug treatment and a different set of
participants in Group B who were given a placebo.
3.
One strength of independent measures design is demand
characteristics are less likely, as participants only take part
in either the drug group or the placebo group, they are less
likely to guess the aim of the research (to see if there is a
difference in the drug group or the placebo group) and change
their behavior, which could affect the results.
One limitation of independent measures design is that more
participants are needed to conduct the research than in a
repeated measures design. In this case 10 participants are
needed for Group A (the drug group) and 10 participants needed
for Group B (the placebo group), making 20 participants
in total.

4.
The 20 patients suffering for DPSD names could be placed in a hat (RNG), and the first 10 that were drawn out
could be placed in Group A and the second 10 placed in Group B.

5.
Self-report measures are prone to social desirability bias so the answers given may not be valid and truly
reflect the interviewee’s thoughts, feelings and behaviours. The participants with DPSD may not have given
truthful answers at the end of the study about their performance at work and their attention levels during the
day because they want to come across as a good employee, they may give answers so that they appear in a ‘better
light’.
Animation
Disadvantages of EX and END
Meets scientific Ethics
criteria ☺ Harmful ☹
Confounded by Ends justify
surgery itself means?
☹
Research in to End and Ex
AO1: JET LAG
Jet lag occurs when we travel rapidly across time zones.

Flying from London to Bangkok takes around 11 hours. If you

leave London at noon, you will arrive 11 hours later and your

body will feel as though it is 11pm, however it will be 6am in

Bangkok . Your body will be ready for sleep when it is morning.

This conflict between local time and your biological time leads

to stress, confusion and impaired cognitive performance.

Disruption of the circadian rhythm by jet leg can affect the

concentration and alertness potentially affecting business and

social relationships. The lag will last as long as it takes the

body to re-synchronise. The quickest way to do is to follow

AO1: JET LAG Phase advance vs
Delay
Recht et al 1995-
Consequences of Jet Lag
AO1 or AO3
Evaluation of research in to
End and Ex
AO1:EP, EX Z, ENTRAINED TO L-D
CYCLE
AO2: Daylight affecting sleep, EP
de-synchronised with L-D,
affecting cognitive function
(SCRD)
DISRUPTION OF RHYTHMS Success Criteria: AQA style………

AO1: Explain the problems that night-shift

workers experience/jet lag causes
Key terms: End and Ex, SCN clock, reset, phase advance vs
phase delay, depression, memory,
AO3:
1. Use evidence from psychological studies
to back up the claims you make.
2. How strong is this evidence (methods)
3. Practical Applications

(AO2: Suggest changes that the company could make to reduce their current
problems and explain why the changes you suggest would work, using evidence
where possible.)
 Describe endog with example

You could outline findings from animal research here i.e.

Describe exog with example

Explain entrainment

Explain effects of entrainment on sleep-wake cycle

What can happen in absence of entrainment?

AO3

Support from research

Animal ethics

GROOVES?

What about humans?

Problems of human
studies

Overall status of exog

endog idea?
 Describe endog with example i.e. scn

You could outline findings from animal research here i.e. Ralph, Morgan etc

Describe exog with example i.e. light/dark cycle

Explain entrainment/synchronization

Explain effects of entrainment i.e. stimulates/shuts down melatonin

AO3

Support from research Morgan, Ralph, Campbell,

Animal ethics Obvious problems

Scientific Features of science met?

What about humans? Siffre/ Aschoff and Weaver/Folkard

Problems of human Case studies/small samples

studies

Overall status of exog Weigh it up- has evidence been strong enough to support the idea?
endog idea?
15 minutes AQA
Action
How does your answer compare?
KNOWLEDGE: endogenous pacemakers – internal biological
rhythms
APPLICATION: moving to night shift means pacemakers try to
impose inbuilt rhythm of sleep,
KNOWLEDGE: exogenous zeitgebers – external factors, eg light
APPLICATION: Sam’s internal systems are now out of synchrony
with the external zeitgeber of light
KNOWLEDGE: De-synchronisation and disruption of biological
rhythms has been shown to lead to disrupted sleep patterns,
increased anxiety and decreased cognitive functioning.
APPLICATION: Sam is tense and irritable so is experiencing
mood changes and less alert.
Problem – random sampling; the 3 pm group might simply have been
better at maths than the 3 am group.
The solution would be a matched pairs (matched on maths ability)
or repeated measures design.

Problem – use of different maths tests-confounding variable, with

no evidence that they were matched for difficulty.
The solution would be to use the same set of maths problems if a
matched pairs design was used.

Problem-Individual differences due to independent groups design

Solution: so use repeated measures but would need different but
equivalent tests and counterbalancing.

• Other issues?
 Ultradian rhythms
More than once per day such as the
sleep (stages) cycle and basic rest
activity cycle (BRAC)

Infradian rhythms
Last longer than a day i.e.
menstrual cycle (monthly) and can be
as long as yearly (SAD)
Ultradian and Infradian Rhythms
• Pheromones are
similar to hormones
but work outside of
the body. They
induce activity in
other individuals,
such as sexual
arousal
The 2 ultradian rhythms

AO1: Cycle

PREP: DEMENT &

KLEITMAN STUDY

AO1: BRAC cycle

Kleitman (1969) described this movement through the stages as
the Basic Rest and Activity Cyle (BRAC). He also suggested that
we move through a similar cycle of altertness and fatigue
during the day. For example research suggest that we can
concentrate for approximately 90 minutes before we begin to
lose concentration and begin to feel hungry and fatigued.
Research evidence for STAGES
OF SLEEP
Dement and Kleitman (1957)
measured brain activity using
electroencephalogram (EEG),
controlling for the effects of
caffeine and alcohol.
REM sleep was highly correlated
with dreaming, the more vivid
the more active.

Waking people up during the REM AO1

stage, people could recall very
clearly what they dreamed. What is NREM?

This finding has been replicated What is REM?

on multiple occasions. How many stages of each
are there?

How long does a

sleep-cycle last?
AO2 APPLICATION:
 ULTRADIAN RHYTHMS-recap
To discuss research into ultradian rhythms
To differentiate between circadian, infradian and
ultradian rhythms
To apply understanding of rhythms to exam
questions
 Dement and Kleitman (57)

METHODS G
Sleep lab R
EEG O
EOG O
SELF-REPORT V
9 Pps
F_
S
FINDINGS

Distinctions between NREM and REM

sleep in terms of brain activity
and eye movement
Eye movement correlated with
dreaming
AO3: Evaluating research in to ultradian rhythms

RWA Research Support Scientific credibility of

supporting research
Discuss research into ultradian rhythms
(8 marks)
 Discuss research into
AO1=3 ultradian rhythms
One or more examples of ultradian rhythms outlined in (8 marks)
some detail with reference to what research using EEGs
has shown, such as Dement and Kleitman 57 or Ericsson
93.

AO3 =5

At least 2 discussion points contextualised and

elaborated-

suggested comments:

-Have they explained how findings of research support

ultradian rhythms

-Have they discussed methodological evaluation of

research i.e. validity, reliability?

-Have they discussed applications/ implications of

findings eg what modifications to routines could be
applied?

-Does our knowledge of sleep-cycle help promote

well-being?

-What’s the value of such research?

 Infradian rhythms
More than once per year lasting _________
than 24 hours

(Circannual rhythms)
AO1: What are they?
• Infradian Rhythms occur _______
often than once per day, so not as
frequently occurring as Circadian
rhythms.
There are ____ notable
infradian cycles that can
occur in humans

Female ___________ S A
__________cycle D
 AO1: Menstrual Cycle

• Endogenous pacemaker: controlled by • For some women a cycle

hormones that are released by the can be relatively
___________system into the short- ____ days
bloodstream.

• For others it can be

• ______________ and progesterone are _____ days, the average
responsible for the female menstrual
being ____ days
cycle • Ovulation occurs
roughly _______
through the cycle
• Oestrogen released from the ______ when ____________
prepares the lining of the womb, levels are at their
while progesterone maintains this _______.
lining ready for fertilization

AO1 MC :75 words?

Infradian: The menstrual cycle:
exogenous influences

Monthly rhythms: Menstrual cycle

WHAT CAN YOU REMEMBER FROM GCSE?
1. What is the approximate
regularity of the menstrual
cycle?

2. At what stage does ovulation

occur?

3. Ovulation occurs when which

hormone is at its peak?

4. Once ovulation occurs why does

progesterone increase?

5. What is the gland regulating

this cycle?
 Infradian Rhythms Research
McClintock

A01: 20 women with a history of irregular period were exposed to

pheromones from other women (collected from their underarm sweat during
the first few days of their period.)

68% of the women exposed to these pheromones experienced changes to

their menstrual cycle.
Became more in synch with the women whose pheromones they had sniffed.

Concluded: Similar cycles amongst women = collective pregnancy in our

ancestors= collective caring of infants.

A03:
• Confounding variables: stress, change in diet and exercise-lacks?
• small samples-lacks?
• self reporting- issues?
• Meta-analysis has found no evidence of the McClintock effect- lacks?
• A lot of the research on pheromones has been done on animals such as
sea urchins-b?.
Research support ----->
Infradian Rhythms: ANNUAL RHYTHMS: SAD
Annual rhythms are related to seasons, in
particular migration in response to lower
body temperatures.

This also may affect human behaviour, as

research suggests seasonal variations in
Circannual Rhythms-
mood in particular for women, with some
people becoming severely depressed in the
In the winter months, melatonin
winter
is secreted for a longer period
months.
due to a lack of sunlight.

This is thought to have an effect

on the neurotransmitter
serotonin, creating depressive
symptoms.

People affected by Seasonal

Affective Disorder tend to sleep
and eat more at this time.

SAD can be treated with light The winter is also associated with an
therapy. This will re-synchronise increase in heart attacks and there is a
the melatonin system robust annual rhythm in human deaths
with most people passing away in
January.
 AO1/AO3 Research support

FEMALE MATE PREFERENCE

• Females generally expressed a preference for

‘slightly feminised’ male faces when picking a partner
for a long term relationship.
he evidence for cyclic shifts in
mate preferences and related
• However, when in the ovulatory phase, women showed a behaviors is compelling
preference for more masculine faces.

• This preference is believed to represent a preference

for kindness and cooperation in parental care in long
term mates, but a preference for males with good genes
for short term liaisons so that these genes might be
passed to their offspring.

• The evidence for cyclic shifts in mate preference has

increased our understanding of the influence of infradian
rhythms on behaviour
 AO1/AO3 Research
support
Miller et al 2007
MALE MATE PREFERENCE
Females are more attractive to men at the most fertile part of their cycle. Oestrogen
makes females more attractive to males i.e. symmetrical features, higher hip-waist
ratio and softer skin.

Followed female dancers for 3 months.

He found that they received 2x more tips when

ovulating compared to any other point in their cycle.
More so if they were not on birth control.

Conclusion:

This shows that a female’s infradian rhythm does not

just affect her behaviour but also acts as a signal to
males.

Self report
Longitudinal
Quantitative data
Testing evolutionary hypotheses
 Both miller 2007 and Penton-Voak 1999
studies can be used for free-will vs
determinism(I&D) debate and for Sexual
Selection (relationships if covered)

They are both testing evolutionary theories about

human reproductive behaviour about evolved mate
preferences

HOW FAR are the studies scientifically credible?

 Evaluation extra of
infradian rhythms I&D link
Females have a menstrual cycle but they
have largely been excluded in to
research into health and rhythms.
Such as research into fitness regimes or
diets
Males have 24hr cycle- follow circadian patterns
(testosterone)- high in morning lower by 3pm.
Happy hours, lunch meetings, end of working days etc- are
centred around a male daily cycle
Elevating the androgen!

10% men have hormonal sickness compared to 65% women (pcos, dysmenorrhea etc)
 Extra AO3
Women experience changes over weeks which
occur rhythmically
Brain chemistry changes by 25% over the course
of the month-
I.e. follicular, ovulation, luteal, bleeding
phases
Different hormonal ratios affect brain
chemistry.
I.e. oestrogen in ovulatory phase =opening up,
communicating, socialising- understanding the
effects could mean that women should schedule
meetings around that week.
Follicular: Creative

Ovulatory:
Communicator

Luteal: Power-task
oriented

Menstrual: Reflective
and intuitive
 Real world applications
of this?
Change working schedules around the different
levels of cognitive focus at different times of the
month
Psycho-syncing method.
Optimise where you are in infradian
rhythm
World Cup winning in 2019 US female soccer
team train according to Infradian rhythms- so
possibly contributed to their success
AO3: SAD: Practical applications:Eastman
Aim:Test the effect of phototherapy on depressive symptoms

Procedure:randomly assigned 96 patients with winter SAD to one of three bright-light treatment
conditions: (10 to 20 times brighter than ordinary indoor lights)

1)hour and a half of bright light in the morning,

2) an hour and a half in the evening,
3) morning placebo of two deactivated negative-ion generators.

Findings: After three weeks

1) hour and a half of bright light in the morning- SIGNIFICANT IMPROVEMENT COMPARED TO PLACEBO
2) an hour and a half in the evening- BETTER THAN PLACEBO BUT NOT SIGNIFICANT
3) morning placebo of two deactivated negative-ion generators.

Importantly, Eastman's group found that effective phototherapy fostered full remission of
depression.

BUT 30% of sufferers in the placebo group also seemed to recover!

What is the placebo effect?

How does it cast doubts on the therapeutic effects of phototherapy on SAD patients?
 PRESENTATIONS PREP

On that note: PREP FOR WEDNESDAY 10th November

ISSUES AND DEBATES:

GENDER BIAS

CULTURE BIAS

SOCIALLY SENSITIVE RESEARCH

AO1: ultradian rhythms

SLEEP CYCLE BRAC

AO1: ultradian rhythms

SLEEP CYCLE BRAC

Ultradian rhythms last _______ than 24 hours and can be found in the pattern of
human sleep. This cycle alternates between REM (______ eye movement) and ______
(non-rapid movement) sleep. The cycle starts at ____sleep in stages 1 & 2 ,
progressing to _____ sleep in stages 3 & 4 and then REM sleep in stage 5. This is
where brain waves speed up and _____________occurs. This cycle repeats about
every ______minutes throughout the night and around ____ times in total.
Ultradian rhythms last fewer than 24 hours and can be found in the pattern of human
sleep. This cycle alternates between REM (rapid eye movement) and NREM (non-rapid
movement) sleep through a series of repeated stages;
Ultradian rhythms last fewer than 24 hours and can be found in the pattern of human
sleep and activity.
Ultradian rhythms last fewer than 24 hours and can be found in the pattern of
human sleep. This cycle alternates between REM (rapid eye movement) and NREM
(non-rapid movement) sleep. The cycle starts at light sleep, progressing to deep
sleep and then REM sleep, where brain waves speed up and dreaming occurs. This
cycle repeats itself about every 90 minutes throughout the night and goes through
the four stages of NREM sleep before entering REM (Stage 5). Research using EEG
has highlighted distinct brain waves patterns during the different stages of sleep-
the slowest brain waves happening during stage 3 and 4 of deep sleep.

Main areas to improve
Limited evaluation
So…?.... Need to explain the
implications of your
critique for UR research
Using resources!
Include psychological
terminology when discussing
RWA
AO1
AO3 =5
At least 2 discussion points contextualised and
elaborated-
suggested comments:
-Have they explained how findings of research support
ultradian rhythms
-Have they discussed methodological evaluation of
research i.e. validity, reliability?
-Have they discussed applications/ implications of
findings eg what modifications to routines could be
applied?
-Does our knowledge of sleep-cycle help promote
well-being?
-What’s the value of such research?
Discuss research into ultradian rhythms (8 marks)

Describe and evaluate research into one or more biological rhythms (8 marks)

10 minutes
Discuss research into ultradian rhythms
(8 marks)