Project Guideline

Psycholog Portfolio Project

For students:

1. Create a blog. Need help? Click here.
2. Post 5 articles related to psychology that you like.
3. Post a comment on each of those articles. Try to answer at least one of these topics: what they learned, what they liked, what they would like to learn more, a summary of what they read, etc.
4. Make sure you give your teacher your blog's URL address (by email or on paper).
5. Pay attention on how your teacher will be grading you.

For teachers:

1. Tell students to create a blog of themselves. Need help? Click here.
2. Ask them to post 5 articles related to psychology that they are interested in commenting about. They must comment (1 paragraph long) on each article: what they learned, what they liked, what they would like to learn more, a summary of what they read, etc.
3. Grade this project by reading the students' comments. No need to read each of the articles posted!
4. Each article and comment posted is worth 2 points. This counts for a total of 10 points total. (But remeber: it's up to you on how to grade this project.)
5. Make sure that you get all your students' URL address of their blogs!

To: Ms. Darlene

Ms. Darlene:

Because I have posted and commented on more articles than what I was asked, I have chosen the articles I want you to read. Please grade the posts and comments of the following articles:

1. How does food affect our moods?
2. Intelligence in the Internet Age
3. Growing as a student: Develop your study plan
4. Angriness
5. Why We Forget Our Dreams

Thanks, Gracia Elena

How does food affect your moods?

It was once thought that the only connection between ones emotions and food was the tendency of some people to eat when they were depressed or under stress. Recent findings have changed our thinking in this area. There is now an understanding that the foods we eat can actually cause certain moods.

Our brains produce chemicals, called neurotransmitters, that regulate our moods, emotions and even how we experience pain. Nutrients in the foods we eat trigger certain amino acids that, in turn, produce or decrease production of emotional neurotransmitters such as dopamine, epinephrine and serotonin. In addition, minerals such as folic acid, choline and selium have an effect on mood.

Let us take a look at protein. Say you are feeling tired and still have half the day to go. The best thing to do is have a high-protein snack. Protein contains an amino acid known as tyrosine. Once tyrosine enters your system, it stimulates the release of dopamine and epinephrine, which are two neurotransmitters that increase energy and alertness. Another benefit of protein is that it balances blood sugar levels so you don’t get the fluctuations that can cause you to feel energetic one minute and tired the next.

This is exactly what happens when you choose a snack high in sugar. Initially, you feel an increase of energy as blood sugar levels rise. Quickly, however, this level drops as insulin is produced and you end up feeling as tired, if not more so, than when you started.

Protein can be found in a variety of foods. Usually, we think immediately of meat, poultry and fish, but these are only some of the protein rich foods. Dairy products such as milk, yoghurt and cheese, contain protein and so do beans of all types. Two other sources are tofu and that good old favorite, peanut butter. Another source of protein, eggs, has an additional benefit. Eggs contain choline, which is a B complex vitamin that helps improve memory and concentration.

Complex carbohydrates increase the release of serotonin, which has an entirely different purpose. Serotonin alleviates depression, calms your nerves and induces sleep. A snack of complex carbohydrates in the evening will enable you to get a more restful sleep. They cause your body to release insulin. The insulin cleans your blood of all amino acids except tryptophan. Tryptophan then converts to the neurotransmitter serotonin, which creates a sense of peace within your mind. Serotonin also reduces your appetite and helps reduce physical pain.

Complex carbohydrates can be found in many forms. Whole grains and starchy foods, such as pasta and potatoes, all fall into this category, as do fruits and vegetables. Folic acid, which can be found in spinach and orange juice, helps to decrease depression. As depression can cause insomnia, increasing folic acid will also aid in getting better sleep.

Many people eliminate fats from their diets entirely, but this can increase the chance of depression. There are certain essential fats that promote the absorption of nutrients into cells and allow waste to escape these cells. When this natural cleansing does not take place, depression increases. These essential fats can be found in nuts, seeds, oily fish such as tuna and oils such as olive.

Two other substances are worth mentioning here; they are ascorbic acid and selium. Studies have shown that ascorbic acid increases the both intercourse frequency and mood, both beneficial outcomes. The lack of selium in your system can cause anxiety, irritability and hostility. Foods such as tuna, Brazil nut, sunflower seeds and whole grain cereals help increase your supply of selium and make you calmer.

The study of how food effects our moods is fairly new. While we have learned much over the past few years, there are still mysteries involved in this connection. There is hope that one day we will be able to eliminate many negative emotions with nature’s own medicine, food.

Article from: http://www.essortment.com/family/mindbodyfooda_svda.htm

Keeping Your Brain Young

The No. 1 Thing You Can Do?

1. Move It
Quick -- what's the No. 1 thing you can do for your brain's health? Differential calculus, you say? Chess? Chaos theory? Nope, the best brain sharpener may be ... sneakers? Yup. Once they're on your feet, you can pump up your heart rate. "The best advice I can give to keep your brain healthy and young is aerobic exercise," says Donald Stuss, PhD, a neuropsychologist and director of the Rotman Research Institute at Baycrest Centre for Geriatric Care in Toronto.

Mark McDaniel, PhD, professor of psychology at Washington University in St. Louis, agrees, but adds, "I would suggest a combined program of aerobics and weight training. Studies show the best outcomes for those engaged in both types of exercise."

As we age, our brain cells, called neurons, lose the tree-branch-like connections between them. These connections, or synapses, are essential to thought. Quite literally, over time, our brains lose their heft. Perhaps the most striking brain research today is the strong evidence we now have that "exercise may forestall some kinds of mental decline," notes McDaniel. It may even restore memory. Myriad animal studies have shown that, among other brain benefits, aerobic exercise increases capillary development in the brain, meaning more blood supply, more nutrients and -- a big requirement for brain health -- more oxygen.

The preeminent exercise and brain-health researcher in humans is Arthur Kramer at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. In a dozen studies over the past few years, with titles such as "Aerobic Fitness Reduces Brain Tissue Loss in Aging Humans," Kramer and his colleagues have proved two critical findings: Fit people have sharper brains, and people who are out of shape, but then get into shape, sharpen up their brains. This second finding is vital. There's no question that working out makes you smarter, and it does so, Kramer notes, at all stages of life. Just as important, exercise staves off heart disease, obesity, diabetes and other maladies that increase the risk of brain problems as we age.

2. Feed It
Another path to a better brain is through your stomach. We've all heard about antioxidants as cancer fighters. Eating foods that contain these molecules, which neutralize harmful free radicals, may be especially good for your brain too. Free radicals have nothing to do with Berkeley politics and everything to do with breaking down the neurons in our brains. Many colorful fruits and vegetables are packed with antioxidants, as are some beans, whole grains, nuts and spices.

More important, though, is overall nutrition. In concert with a good workout routine, you should eat right to avoid the diseases that modern flesh is heir to. High blood pressure, diabetes, obesity and high cholesterol all make life tough on your brain, says Carol Greenwood, PhD, a geriatric research scientist at the University of Toronto.

If your diet is heavy, then you're probably also heavy. The same weight that burdens your legs on the stairs also burdens your brain for the witty reply or quick problem solving. The best things you can eat for your body, Greenwood notes, are also the best things you can eat for your brain. Your brain is in your body, after all. Greenwood's recommendation is to follow the dietary guidelines from the American Diabetes Association (available at diabetes.org).

3. Speed It Up
Sorry to say, our brains naturally start slowing down at the cruelly young age of 30 (yes, 30). It used to be thought that this couldn't be helped, but a barrage of new studies show that people of any age can train their brains to be faster and, in effect, younger. "Your brain is a learning machine," says Michael Merzenich, PhD, a neuroscientist at the University of California, San Francisco. Given the right tools, we can train our brains to act like they did when we were younger. All that's required is dedicated practice: exercises for the mind.

Merzenich has developed a computer-based training regimen to speed up how the brain processes information (positscience.com). Since much of the data we receive comes through speech, the Brain Fitness Program works with language and hearing to improve both speed and accuracy. Over the course of your training, the program starts asking you to distinguish sounds (between "dog" and "bog," for instance) at an increasingly faster rate. It's a bit like a tennis instructor, says Merzenich, shooting balls at you faster and faster over the course of the summer to keep you challenged. Though you may have started out slow, by Labor Day you're pretty nimble.

Similarly, Nintendo was inspired by the research of a Japanese doctor to develop a handheld game called Brain Age: Train Your Brain in Minutes a Day, which has sold more than two million copies in Japan. No software out there has yet been approved by the FDA as a treatment for cognitive impairment, but an increasing number of reputable scientific studies suggest that programs like Merzenich's could help slow down typical brain aging, or even treat dementia. The biggest finding in brain research in the last ten years is that the brain at any age is highly adaptable, or "plastic," as neurologists put it. If you ask your brain to learn, it will learn. And it may speed up in the process.

To keep your brain young and supple, you can purchase software like Merzenich's, or you can do one of a million new activities that challenge and excite you: playing Ping-Pong or contract bridge, doing jigsaw puzzles, learning a new language or the tango, taking accordion lessons, building a kit airplane, mastering bonsai technique, discovering the subtleties of beer-brewing and, sure, relearning differential calculus.

"Anything that closely engages your focus and is strongly rewarding," says Merzenich, will kick your brain into learning mode and necessarily notch it up. For his part, Merzenich, 64, has "4,000 hobbies," including a wood shop and a vineyard.

Stop, Breathe & Relax

4. Stay Calm
So you may be saying to yourself, I have to sign up right now for Swahili and calculus and accordion lessons before my brain withers away! Stop! Breathe. Relax. Good.

While challenging your brain is very important, remaining calm is equally so. In a paper on the brain and stress, Jeansok Kim of the University of Washington asserts, in no uncertain terms, that traumatic stress is bad for your brain cells. Stress can "disturb cognitive processes such as learning and memory, and consequently limit the quality of human life," writes Kim.

One example is a part of the brain called the hippocampus, which is a primary locus of memory formation, but which can be seriously debilitated by chronic stress. Of course, physical exercise is always a great destressor, as are calmer activities like yoga and meditation. And when you line up your mental calisthenics (your Swahili and swing lessons), make sure you can stay loose and have fun.

5. Give It a Rest
Perhaps the most extreme example of the mental power of staying calm is the creative benefit of sleep. Next time you're working on a complex problem, whether it be a calculus proof or choosing the right car for your family, it really pays to "sleep on it."

Researchers at Harvard Medical School have looked at the conditions under which people come up with creative solutions. In a study involving math problems, they found that a good night's rest doubled participants' chances of finding a creative solution to the problems the next day. The sleeping brain, they theorize, is vastly capable of synthesizing complex information.

6. Laugh a Little
Humor stimulates the parts of our brain that use the "feel good" chemical messenger dopamine. That puts laughter in the category of activities you want to do over and over again, such as eating chocolate or having sex. Laughter is pleasurable, perhaps even "addictive," to the brain.

But can humor make us smarter? The jury is still out and more studies are needed, but the initial results are encouraging. Look for a feature on exciting new research about humor and intelligence in the September issue of Reader's Digest.

7. Get Better With Age
In our youth-obsessed culture, no one's suggesting a revision to the Constitution allowing 20-year-olds to run for President. The age requirement remains at 35. You've heard about the wisdom and judgment of older people? Scientists are starting to understand how wisdom works on a neurological level.

When you are older, explains Merzenich, "you have recorded in your brain millions and millions of little social scenarios and facts" that you can call upon at any time. Furthermore, he notes, "you are a much better synthesizer and integrator of that information."

Older people are better at solving problems, because they have more mental information to draw upon than younger people do. That's why those in their 50s and 60s are sage. They're the ones we turn to for the best advice, the ones we want to run our companies and our country.

As Barry Gordon, a neurologist at The Johns Hopkins School of Medicine and author of Intelligent Memory: Improve the Memory That Makes You Smarter, puts it, "It's nice to know some things get better with age."

Article from: http://www.rd.com/living-healthy/7-anti-aging-tips-to-keep-your-brain-young/article28203.html

Intelligence in the Internet Age

It's a question older than the Parthenon: Do innovations and new technologies make us more intelligent?

A few thousand years ago, a Greek philosopher, as he snacked on dates on a bench in downtown Athens, may have wondered if the written language folks were starting to use was allowing them to avoid thinking for themselves.

Today, terabytes of easily accessed data, always-on Internet connectivity, and lightning-fast search engines are profoundly changing the way people gather information. But the age-old question remains: Is technology making us smarter? Or are we lazily reliant on computers, and, well, dumber than we used to be?

"Our environment, because of technology, is changing, and therefore the abilities we need in order to navigate these highly information-laden environments and succeed are changing," said Susana Urbina, a professor of psychology at the University of North Florida who has studied the roots of intelligence.

If there is a good answer to the question, it probably starts with a contradiction: What makes us intelligent--the ability to reason and learn--is staying the same and will never fundamentally change because of technology. On the other hand, technology, from pocket calculators to the Internet, is radically changing the notion of the intelligence necessary to function in the modern world.

Take Diego Valderrama, an economist with the Federal Reserve Bank in San Francisco. If he were an economist 40 years ago, he may have used a paper, pencil and slide rule to figure out and chart by hand how the local economy might change with a 1 percent boost in taxes. But because he's a thoroughly modern guy, he uses knowledge of the C++ programming language to create mathematical algorithms to compute answers and produce elaborate projections on the impact of macroeconomic changes to work forces or consumer consumption.

Does that mean he's not as bright as an economist from the 1950s? Is he smarter? The answer is probably "no" on both counts. He traded one skill for another. Computer skills make him far more efficient and allow him to present more accurate--more intelligent--information. And without them, he'd have a tough time doing his job. But drop him into the Federal Reserve 40 years ago, and a lack of skill with the slide rule could put an equal crimp on his career.

Intelligence, as it impacts the economist Valderrama, is our capacity to adapt and thrive in our own environment. In a Darwinian sense, it's as true now as it was millions of years ago, when man's aptitude for hearing the way branches broke or smelling a spore affected his power to avoid predators, eat and survive.
But what makes someone smart can vary in different cultures and situations. A successful Wall Street banker who has dropped into the Australian Outback likely couldn't pull off a great Crocodile Dundee impression. A mathematical genius like Isaac Newton could be--in fact, he was--socially inept and a borderline hermit. A master painter? Probably not so good at balancing a checkbook.

What's undeniable is the Internet's democratization of information. It's providing instant access to information and, in a sense, improving the practical application of intelligence for everyone.

Nearly a century ago, Henry Ford didn't have the Internet, but he did have a bunch of smart guys. The auto industry pioneer, as a parlor trick, liked to claim he could answer any question in 30 minutes. In fact, he had organized a research staff he could call at any time to get him the answer.

Today, you don't have to be an auto baron to feign that kind of knowledge. You just have to be able to type G-O-O-G-L-E. People can in a matter of minutes find sources of information like court documents, scientific papers or corporate securities filings.

"The notion that the world's knowledge is literally at your fingertips is very compelling and is very beguiling," said Vint Cerf, who co-created the underlying architecture of the Internet and who is widely considered one of its "fathers." What's exciting "is the Internet's ability to absorb such a large amount of information and for it to be accessible to other people, even if they don't know it exists or don't know who you are."

Indeed, Doug Engelbart, one of the pioneers of personal computing technology in the 1960s, envisioned in the early '60s that the PC would augment human intelligence. He believes that society's ability to gain insight from information has evolved with the help of computers.

"The key thing about all the world's big problems is that they have to be dealt with collectively," Engelbart said. "If we don't get collectively smarter, we're doomed."

The virtual memory
According to at least one definition, intelligence is the "ability to reason, plan, solve problems, think abstractly, comprehend ideas and language, and learn." Yet intelligence is not just about book learning or test scores; it also reflects a deeper understanding of the world. On average, people with high IQs are thought to live longer, earn more money, process information faster and have larger working memories.

Yet could all this information provided by the Internet and gadgets dampen our motivation to remember anything?

Working with the Treo handheld computing device he helped create, Jeff Hawkins can easily recount exactly what he did three years ago on Sept. 8, factor 9,982 and Pi, or describe a weather system over the Pacific Ocean. But without his "smart" phone, he can't recall his daughter's telephone number offhand.

It's a familiar circumstance for people living in the hyper-connected Internet age, when it has become easier to program a cell phone or computer--instead of your brain--to recall facts or other essential information. In some sense, our digital devices do the thinking for us now, helping us with everything from calendar scheduling and local directions to in-depth research and "Jeopardy"-like trivia.

"It's true we don't remember anything anymore, but we don't need to," said Hawkins, the co-founder of Palm Computing and author of a book called "On Intelligence."

"We might one day sit around and reminisce about having to remember phone numbers, but it's not a bad thing. It frees us up to think about other things. The brain has a limited capacity, if you give it high-level tools, it will work on high-level problems," he said.

Only 600 years ago, people relied on memory as a primary means of communication and tradition. Before the printed word, memory was essential to lawyers, doctors, priests and poets, and those with particular talents for memory were revered. Seneca, a famous teacher of rhetoric around A.D. 37, was said to be able to repeat long passages of speeches he had heard years before. "Memory," said Greek playwright Aeschylus, "is the mother of all wisdom."

People feared the invention of the printing press because it would cause people to rely on books for their memory. Today, memory is more irrelevant than ever, argue some academics.

"What's important is your ability to use what you know well. There are people who are walking encyclopedias, but they make a mess of their lives. Getting a 100 percent on a written driving test doesn't mean you can drive," said Robert Sternberg, dean of Arts and Sciences at Tufts University and a professor of psychology.

Article from: http://news.cnet.com/Intelligence-in-the-Internet-age/2100-11395_3-5869719.html

Growing as a student: Develop your study plan

What's the easiest way to learn course content? Read the recommended text passages, attend class regularly, listen intently, and take your own notes. In addition, you might find it helpful to develop a study plan.

Set a schedule.
To develop a good study plan, think about the process of studying. Decide where and when you want to study. Create a weekly schedule and block off the day in one-hour parts. Mark times for classes, labs, lectures, extracurricular activities, work, and sleep time. Then, find specific study times for each subject and stick to studying those subjects at those times every week.

Stay healthy.
Many students find that when they get into a heavy study routine, it can be easy to forget about regular exercise and healthy eating habits. Make sure to include time for exercise and relaxation, because the healthier your body, the better you can deal with stress.

Take advantage of timing.
Deciding when to study is critical. A good rule of thumb is to study when you are rested and alert. Start with the more challenging and difficult tasks while your mind is most focused and open for information.

If your study period is before a lecture class, be sure you have read all the assignments and made notes on what you don't understand. If the study period is after the lecture class, review the notes you took during class while the information is still fresh in your mind.

Take breaks to re-energize.
When you're busy studying, don't forget to take breaks every once in a while. Also, every half-hour, you should take a few minutes to reflect on what you just learned. If you understand what you just studied, you'll be able to summarize it for a parent or friend who is helping you. If you stumble, reread or restudy the material. If that doesn't work, write down what you just learned. All of these activities can help you reinforce the main points.

Form a study group.
Study groups can help you conquer challenging course material. Invite three to six people to meet regularly to discuss and review material. Set a regular meeting time, decide on studying timelines, and split up responsibilities for the group. Keep a list of e-mail addresses and phone numbers so that you can communicate between study sessions.

Article from: http://www.aie.org/AIEmail/issues/20081124/index.cfm

The Newborn Startle Reflex

With the actual dictionary definition of ‘The reflex response of an infant in which the limb and neck muscles contract when the infant is allowed to drop a short distance or is startled by a sudden noise or jolt’ one might wonder if the startle reflex is dangerous for their infant. The answer is no.

Infants are born with this primitive reflex, also called the moro reflex, that helps them adapt and adjust to situations. You will often see a newborn jump when laid on a bed, even softly, showing that their muscles and reflexes are working properly. More common is having your baby startle when you start the vacuum cleaner in the room they are in, however not wake up. This is a good sign that your babies hearing is working up to par.

There are several things that may set your babies startle reflex off. They include but are definitely not limited too:

• Running the vacuum
• A telephone ringing
• Being in car seat when it is places on the floor
• Being touched while asleep
• Other children screaming
• Loud crowds
• TV/Radio turning on/off

If you aren’t sure when your newborn is demonstrating the startle reflex, look for him to quickly extend his arms and legs, and lift his neck when asleep. This may or may not also be followed by a short cry, before he is quickly quiet and back to sleep.

Generally this reflex will be apparent at birth and will generally disappear by the time your newborn is 6 months old. It can often be seen in premature babies born after week 28, as one of their first infantile reflexes.

As always, if you are concerned about any movements your baby is making, go see your pediatrician. Likewise, if you are unsure that your baby has the startle reflex, as the pediatrician at your next visit.

Article from: http://www.babiesonline.com/articles/baby/startlereflex.asp

Angriness

Anger is a response to feelings of unhappiness, which in turn arise whenever we meet with unpleasant circumstances. Whenever we are prevented from fulfilling our wishes, or forced into a situation we dislike – in short, whenever we have to put up with something we would rather avoid – our uncontrolled mind reacts by immediately feeling unhappy. This uncomfortable feeling can easily turn into anger, and we become even more disturbed than before.

The other main reason we become unhappy and angry is because we are faced with a situation we do not want or like. Every day we encounter hundreds of situations we do not like, from stubbing our toe or having a disagreement with our partner, to discovering that our house has burnt down or that we have cancer; and our normal reaction to all of these occurrences is to become unhappy and angry. However, try as we might, we cannot prevent unpleasant things happening to us. We cannot promise that for the rest of the day nothing bad will happen to us; we cannot even promise that we shall be alive to see the end of the day. In samsara we are not in control of what happens to us.

Since it is impossible to fulfil all our desires or to stop unwanted things happening to us, we need to find a different way of relating to frustrated desires and unwanted occurrences. We need to learn patient acceptance.

When patience is present in our mind it is impossible for unhappy thoughts to gain a foothold.
Patience is a mind that is able to accept, fully and happily, whatever occurs. It is much more than just gritting our teeth and putting up with things. Being patient means to welcome wholeheartedly whatever arises, having given up the idea that things should be other than what they are. It is always possible to be patient; there is no situation so bad that it cannot be accepted patiently, with an open, accommodating, and peaceful heart.

When patience is present in our mind it is impossible for unhappy thoughts to gain a foothold. There are many examples of people who have managed to practise patience even in the most extreme circumstances, such as under torture or in the final ravages of cancer. Although their body was ruined beyond repair, deep down their mind remained at peace. By learning to accept the small difficulties and hardships that arise every day in the course of our lives, gradually our capacity for patient acceptance will increase and we shall come to know for ourself the freedom and joy that true patience brings.

Article from: http://www.anger-management-techniques.org/why-we-get-angry.htm/ and http://www.anger-management-techniques.org/dealing-with-anger.htm/

Why We Forget Our Dreams

None of the other dream theories we have discussed so far on this site can satisfactorily explain why we forget almost all of our dreams. As we shall see, the expectation fulfillment theory of dreaming does provide a satisfying explanation for this widely observed phenomenon.

Evolution for expectation

Brains evolved to help animals make more accurate predictions about what behaviors would help them survive. But the type of expectations we have as humans, or that other animals have, for that matter, are infinitely more complex than those of a bee. When mammals evolved, they developed warm-bloodedness, which meant that they were no longer dependent on the sun's heat for mobility. But maintaining a constant warm body temperature required a greatly increased energy intake (estimated at up to a 500 per cent increase in calories needed). So, to meet this need, mammals had to become much better at locating food supplies while also avoiding becoming food themselves for other warm-blooded predatory mammals — all of which required a much more sophisticated prediction system, to reduce the risks.

The cortex provided the answer. The evolution of the cortex, with its much increased processing capacity, enabled mammals not just to act purely on instinct — see a food source and go for it — but to weigh up the risks and benefits of an action — do I have time to make the kill and hide it or will I get eaten by another animal while I'm doing it? In more technical terms, it enabled the ancient dopamine prediction circuits of the limbic system to be subjected to a higher-order risk analysis, based on the additional computing power provided by the cortex.

However, that left another problem to be solved. The limbic system communicates with the cortex via behavioural impulses (emotions). If these are not acted upon (for instance, because the strategy is deemed too risky or because the cortex has set other priorities — such as deciding, in certain circumstances, that it is more important to protect young than to chase a possible food source) they don't go away. In the case of humans, this state of unfulfilled expectation can also occur when we think about something in the future or the past that causes emotional arousal in the present but which can't, by its very nature, be acted upon. These uncompleted emotional impulses — expectations — stay switched on, taking up processing capacity in the expectation system.

Reducing the processing capacity

So far, two strategies have evolved for dealing with this. The first, in the spiny anteater, is the development of a much bigger cortex to store all these expectations whilst retaining sufficient spare computing power for making new, ongoing risk assessments. This may also be the strategy evolved by dolphins, which have an exceptionally large cortex. The muscle paralysis that accompanies REM sleep places dolphins at risk of drowning, so they can have hardly any REM sleep.

The second and much more efficient method is dreaming. In dreaming, we act out the unrealized expectations from waking by pattern matching them to analogous sensory patterns — images and events stored in memory — as it is through pattern matching that the REM system works. I am often asked why the pattern match has to be analogical or metaphorical. Apart from the evidence I have published explaining this point, [see FAQ question 8] there is a sound physiological reason for why it must be so. An expectation is an imagined scenario, using images from memory.

In dreaming, we are asking memory to provide a scenario that matches a scenario that is already a part of memory — the event that aroused the expectation. So the matching scenario has to be the best fit that memory can provide. Think of it this way — if I hold up my left hand and ask my brain for a best-fit pattern match, it can't use my left hand because that is the one I want a match for — so it must use my right hand, as the best-fit pattern match for my left. (This does not happen in waking because we pattern match our expectations to whatever stimulates them in the environment, not to a memory. If we want an ice cream, the expectation is fulfilled when we are actually eating it.)

The dream, then, by fulfilling the expectation, completes the circuit and switches off the arousal. But that is not the end of the matter, for we have now converted an unrealized expectation into a factual memory of completing it. Ordinarily, the hippocampus, the conscious memory store, holds our memories of recent events and quickly deconstructs those memories and sends them to various parts of the cortex — the parts concerned with vision, hearing, touch, etc — for storage. It does that to facilitate efficient pattern matching. But, if the dream is allowed to be stored as a real memory, it will corrupt the memory store and greatly diminish our ability reliably to predict the outcome of similar experiences in the future. This is avoided by preventing the hippocampus from sending the dream information to the cortex for long-term storage.[2] As explained earlier, PET scans and other types of research have shown that, in dreaming, the prefrontal cortex is closed down.

So it is no accident that the prefrontal cortex is switched off during dreaming. It is no accident that the hippocampus doesn't de-construct information and send it all around the brain because what the hippocampus is doing in dreaming is getting rid of expectations that didn't pan out while we were awake. It is getting them out of the way, making them inaccessible, in effect, so as to allow us to build up a proper, intelligence prediction and expectation system, an accurate storage of knowledge. (This also explains the evidence for memory consolidation — if you take away all the false expectations, the memories that are consolidated are more accurate.)

The expectation fulfillment theory can therefore explain why dreams are about emotionally arousing events, particularly about emotionally arousing expectations. It explains why dreams are consistent over time. It explains the developmental aspects of dreaming. It can explain the other tests put down by Domhoff. But, more than that, it explains the cutting-edge evidence that the brain is ever malleable, by explaining how it can be so malleable.

The purpose of the brain is to predict, so that we can get our needs met. We need to have a system that can continually adapt itself, and the expectation fulfillment theory shows how the brain does that by cancelling out the expectations that didn't work. It enables us to have a bang-up-to-date register of what really does get needs met in our lives, so that we can more accurately predict what we need to do in the future. (But we can only work with the experiences we have had. If, as a child, a young woman experienced both abuse and love from her father, she may continually seek a relationship with abusive men, until eventually she can learn that love exists separately from abuse.)

But what about remembered dreams?

You might then wonder if recalling our dreams, as sometimes happens, is undoing the dream work. The answer is no, because the arousal is switched off once the expectation is acted out. When we are awake, the cortex is switched on, enabling us to compare dream content to what is really happening around us and, thus, to distinguish between dream and reality.

Occasionally the cortex is alerted by some incongruity in the dream experience, such as flying, and we become aware that we are dreaming (this is known as lucid dreaming). But this risks undoing the dream work of deactivating the experiences — because we now know we are experiencing a fantasy. (In more primitive mammals, if an altering of the cortex were to happen, it is less likely their brains could make the distinction between dream and reality; the fantasy would be treated as real and would therefore corrupt the memory stores.)

Article from: http://why-we-dream.com/evolvetoforget.htm

Dreams

What is a dream? How is the word "dream" defined?
We can think of a "dream" as a report of a memory of a cognitive experience that happens under the kinds of conditions that are most frequently produced in a state called "sleep." But if you want it to be more simple, you can think of dreams as the little dramas our minds make up when the "self" system is not keeping us alert to the world around us.

Why do we dream? Do dreams have a function or "purpose"?
No one knows for sure. Click here for further discussion.

How often do we dream, and when?
Most people over the age of 10 dream at least 4 to 6 times per night during a stage of sleep called REM (for Rapid Eye Movements, a distinguishing characteristic of this stage of sleep). During REM periods our brains become as active as they are during waking, although not all parts of the brain are reactivated (the parts of the brain that are reactivated in REM are discussed in Chapter 1 of Domhoff's The Scientific Study of Dreams (2003)). REM periods vary in length from 5 to 10 minutes for the first REM period of the night to as long as 30-34 minutes later in the night. It thus seems likely that dreams can be a half hour or more in length.

There is also evidence that we can dream in non-REM sleep in the hour or two before waking up, when the brain has become more activated than it was earlier in the night. That's why we said that we dream "at least" 4 to 6 times per night.

But there are further qualifications that need to be added. Sometimes we can have dreamlike moments during waking if we are in a relaxed state of mind and not noticing anything in our surroundings, as demonstrated in two different studies of people awake in slightly darkened rooms who were signaled at random intervals to say what was going through their minds. And the investigators knew these people were awake because their brain wave activity was being monitored via EEG. So, it may be that we dream any time that the following conditions are met: (1) an adequate level of brain activation; (2) a shutting out of external stimuli; and (3) a shutting down of the self-awareness system that helps focus our minds when we are awake.

One final note: We said that these findings refer to "people over the age of 10." That's because two important studies suggest that children under age 10 only dream in about 20% of their REM periods (again, see Domhoff, 2003).

In summary, we can dream in REM or non-REM sleep, and perhaps even during waking, but we also can have REM sleep without dreaming.

Are dreams influenced by fears or stress? Any other factors?
Most definitely. Dreams often express our current concerns and preoccupations; we call this "the continuity hypothesis." If you are nervous about studying for finals, you may have nervous dreams on the same topic. Dreams are not always about negative preoccupations, though. If you have a crush on someone, it is likely that you will dream about them; if you love basketball, you're more likely to dream about it than someone who doesn't follow the sport.

Why are dreams so forgettable?
It seems likely that all of us forget 95-99% of our dreams for the very ordinary reason that we sleep right through them and aren't paying attention to remembering anything. One dream researcher suggests that it's similar to when you are doing something that doesn't take much concentration, such as driving on an open road, so you are not paying attention to what you are doing.

Are there other mental or personality factors that influence rate of recall?
Some low recallers seem to be less good at tasks involving visual imagination, such as when they have to look at a picture of a building made of blocks and then construct one out of blocks that are sitting in front of them. There may be other "cognitive skills" relating to the ability to imagine things that are important, too, but the research is not yet completely convincing on this point.

As far as personality factors, which many people might think to be the main factor, studies using several personality tests don't show either large or consistent relationships. Nor is there any evidence that some people are too "defensive" or "repressed" to remember their dreams. Several studies are pretty convincing on that point.

Article from: http://psych.ucsc.edu/dreams/FAQ/index.html