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Psychological sleep research
The protective fields model:
The protective field model makes testable hypotheses about sleep
structure that have implications for the psychological treatment of
sleep-related problems. The question of the function of sleep itself
is still strongly debated in the scientific community, and the
protective field model is not concerned about the overall function of
sleep. Rather, it proposes an evolutionary trace of the way in which
we sleep, namely constantly switching between phases of high and low
arousal threshold. According to the model, the changes in sleep
intensity that we experience throughout the night, serve the function
of allowing us to periodically monitor our sleep environment for
auditory signals of danger. Based on observations from other animals,
the protective field model makes very explicit predictions about the
effects of perceived endangerment on the sleep quality in humans. One
such hypothesis that has been tested and proven in the laboratory, is
that a high need to monitor one's sleep environment goes along with
light sleep and is predictive of developing insomnia. Situationen mit hohem Schwierigkeitsgrad, bei denen es
darauf ankommt, unwichtige Reize auszublenden um angemessen auf
wichtige Reize reagieren zu können, arbeiten Blunter effektiver als
Monitorer.
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