Psychophysiology of Sleep

Course aim

Students will critically examine the interactions of biology, behaviour, and social factors that affect and regulate sleep and wakefulness, applying this information to themselves through a number of assigned exercises and to a broader context through a final project.

Course content

In this course students will develop an advanced understanding of the basics of sleep and circadian rhythms, including measurement, bioregulation (brain mechanisms, theory of sleep regulation), ontogeny, phylogeny, physiology, psychology (including learning, memory and dreaming), and sleep disorders. Students will develop an advanced understanding of the application of methods of studying behaviour using modes of analysis common to experimental psychology, the interactions of sleep and society as well as sleep disorders. Students will also be introduced to sleep measurement tools.

Textbook(s)

Lockley, SW & Foster, RG 2012, Sleep: A Very Short Introduction, paperback edition, Oxford University Press, NY, USA

Cartwright, RD 2012, The Twenty-four Hour Mind: The Role of Sleep and Dreaming in Our Emotional Lives, paperback edition, Oxford University Press, NY, USA

Flygare, J 2012, Wide Awake and Dreaming: A Memoir of Narcolepsy, Mill Pond Swan Publishing, Arlington, VA, USA

Prerequisite(s)

Common to all relevant programs
Subject Area & Catalogue Number	Course Name
BEHL 2005	Introductory Research Methods

The listed prerequisite plus two Level 2 psychology courses.

Corequisite(s)

Nil

Teaching method

Component	Duration
INTERNAL, MAGILL
Lecture	2 hours x 13 weeks
Workshop	1 hour x 13 weeks

Note: These components may or may not be scheduled in every study period. Please refer to the timetable for further details.

Assessment

Examination, Problem solving exercise, Project

Fees

EFTSL*: 0.125
Commonwealth Supported program (Band 1)
To determine the fee for this course as part of a Commonwealth Supported program, go to:
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Fee-paying program for domestic and international students
International students and students undertaking this course as part of a postgraduate fee paying program must refer to the relevant program home page to determine the cost for undertaking this course.

Non-award enrolment
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* Equivalent Full Time Study Load. Please note: all EFTSL values are published and calculated at ten decimal places. Values are displayed to three decimal places for ease of interpretation.