Sleep Deprivation Increases Susceptibility to False Memories (Coursework Sample)

Article Review
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Article Review
Article # 1: Sleep Deprivation Increases Susceptibility to False Memories
According to Sukel (2014), human memory is unreliable, as it can be altered by mere suggestions as well as variation in circumstances. Moreover, Sukel affirms that the deprivation of sleep makes people more susceptible to false memories. With reference to several researches conducted over the past decade, it is evident that lack of adequate sleep often results in inefficient cognitive functioning. Primarily, the researches done among humans and animals, show that significant deprivation of sleep is massively detrimental to basic cognitive skills such as attention, alertness, and vigilance (Sukel, 2014).
Furthermore, Sekul refers to a study by Ted Abel (who is a neuroscientist at the University of Pennsylvania), which suggest that the deprivation of as little as three hours of sleeping time can lead to the impairment of a person’s memory storage. Abel’s research confirms that the deprivation of sleep blocks the formation of memories, a factor that negatively affects the recalling ability.
In addition, several researches by psychologists suggest that adequate sleep is paramount to the development of healthy human memory. Sleep plays a vital role in the storage as well as accurate retrieval of information from the brain of a person. It is undeniable that the majority of the world’s population is not aware of the extent to which sleep deprivation leads to the distortion of memory, or even creation of false memory. Hence, it is given that sleep is necessary for accurate memory. Sleep equally forms a significant part of healthy and cognitively functional human brains (Sukel, 2014).
According to the findings of the research done by Steven Frenda, it is undisputed that the deprivation of sleep is a major factor that leads to the formation of false memories. Frenda found that persons who were deprived of sleep were notably bound to incorporate sections of misleading information from a phenomenon that had previously taken place. For instance, Frenda gave photos describing a particular event to people. Some people who took part in the research were allowed to sleep adequately while the remaining group did no sleep at all. The results of this experiment show that the participants to whom sleep was deprived did include parts of misleading narratives, which were not part of the phenomena described by the original photographs.
From the analysis above, it is undisputedly conclusive that sleep is beneficial to memory. Human memory is subject to alteration by suggestions, deprivation of sleep and variation in circumstances. Hence, although eyewitnesses play a significant role in solving crimes, it is vital that the legal fraternity beware of the occurrence of false memories in order to give rulings that are air to both the plaintiff and defendants (Sukel, 2014).
Article # 2: Autism Remains a Mystery, but Help May Be On the Horizon
According to a document by Lane (2014), autism is one of the poorly understood neurological disorders, a factor that has led to a rise in its cases through time. Referring to the finding of a research by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, one in every sixty-eight (1 out of 68) children in America suffers from autism spectrum disorder (Lane, 2014).
Children with autism spectrum disorder often have difficulty with communication and learning. Such children fail to meet simple developmental milestones such as speaking. Autistic children also have mild difficulties in social interaction as well as behavioral impairments. Due to that, scientists have suggested that the standards of care for autism include perming comprehensive behavioral intervention to children at the earliest opportunity possible. In addition, medical professionals suggest that appropriate research approaches that lead to the invention of drugs with which to improve chemical signaling abilities of neurons within autistic brains be conducted in order to better, manage autism (Lane, 2014).
As outlined by Lane (2014), scientists have not yet pinpointed the cause of autism spectrum disorder, though they prospect that both genetic composition and en...