CMLIT 153

Reading Questions

Dement: The Promise of Sleep

Chapters 3 & 4

1. What is sleep debt? What are some of the consequences of sleep debt?

2. What is the Multiple Sleep Latency Test (MSLT)?

3. Why can sleep-deprived people still feel alert during the day?

4. Describe the interaction between sleep debt and alcohol.

5. What were the results of the Naval sensory deprivation study? And the Thomas Wehr study?

6. Why is a little sleep debt good, according to Dement?

7. What is the biological clock? What is the circadian rhythm? What does Dement mean by "opponent process model"?

8. Explain jet lag using the notions of the biological clock and the sleep drive.

9. What have scientists discovered when they measure the sleep of subjects deprived of all external time cues?

10. How did Thomas Edison influence modern sleep?

11. In your sleep and dream journal, start to record the number of hours you sleep a day, including naps. When do you tend to feel drowsy and when are you especially alert? Start to pay attention to your circadian rhythm.