
Study: Believing You’ve Slept Well, Even if You Haven’t, Improves Performance - yummyfajitas
http://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2014/01/study-believing-you-ve-slept-well-even-if-you-haven-t-improves-performance/283305/
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dispense
Placebo Sleep Affects Cognitive Functioning.

Paywalled article:
[http://psycnet.apa.org/doi/10.1037/a0035546](http://psycnet.apa.org/doi/10.1037/a0035546)

Abstract:

The placebo effect is any outcome that is not attributed to a specific
treatment but rather to an individual's mindset (Benson & Friedman, 1996).
This phenomenon can extend beyond its typical use in pharmaceutical drugs to
involve aspects of everyday life, such as the effect of sleep on cognitive
functioning. In 2 studies examining whether perceived sleep quality affects
cognitive functioning, 164 participants reported their previous night's sleep
quality. They were then randomly assigned to 1 of 2 sleep quality conditions
or 2 control conditions. Those in the "above average" sleep quality condition
were informed that they had spent 28.7% of their total sleep time in REM,
whereas those in the "below average" sleep quality condition were informed
that they had only spent 16.2% of their time in REM sleep. Assigned sleep
quality but not self-reported sleep quality significantly predicted
participants' scores on the Paced Auditory Serial Addition Test and Controlled
Oral Word Association Task. Assigned sleep quality did not predict
participants' scores on the Digit Span task, as expected, nor did it predict
scores on the Symbol Digit Modalities Test, which was unexpected. The control
conditions showed that the findings were not due to demand characteristics
from the experimental protocol. These findings supported the hypothesis that
mindset can influence cognitive states in both positive and negative
directions, suggesting a means of controlling one's health and cognition.
(PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2014 APA, all rights reserved).

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endtime
Actually, this just shows that believing you will perform better improves
performance. They weren't just told they'd slept better, they were also told
that sleeping better improves performance:

>The researchers then gave the participants a quick, five-minute lesson about
sleep’s effect on cognitive function, telling them it was just background
information for the study.

~~~
saurik
Yeah; it could very well have been the case that had the researchers given a
quick, five-minute lesson about how "short bouts of sleep deprivation improve
cognitive function ...because SCIENCE [wave hands frantically]" that they
could have shown the opposite result as well ;P.

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dschiptsov
How it is different from superstitions or religions?)

Study: Believing that Lord Shiva helps improves performance.

Study: Doing Kora around mt.Kailash when moon is full improves performance.

It could be a very long list.

Study: Believing that I am capable while I'm not improves performance. (Look
at these overconfident "finance guys").

And finally generalization about "why believers have better life than
infidels" \- believing in something improves performance.)

~~~
loceng
It's all related to placebo effect and positive attitude - perhaps throwing in
the concept of hope. You could throw the idea of intent in there as well.
Basically along the lines of once you initiate positives-feel-good thoughts
then those will impact everything else you do - and things like exercise that
increase good feelings physically, then those associated thoughts and memories
will have more feel-good attached to them. Bit of a tangent I went on..

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VLM
Nobody mentioned anxiety? Everyone's heard of all kinds of stupid accidents,
well, I'd never do something that dumb. Well, after being awake 24 hours
either you understand it could happen, or you're not very self aware. Being
told you've got plenty of sleep and should be able to do the job just fine
reduces anxiety and the lack of anxiety improves performance.

I own a table saw and still have all my fingers. I know all about doing
dangerous stuff while well rested, sober, calm. As an example, had a board
kickback on Friday evening, I know what I'm doing and work safely so I know
nothing will happen when it kicks back so I can focus 100% on other things,
like keeping my fingers well away from the blade. If I was all anxious in
general or about kickbacks I'd probably end up sticking a finger in the blade,
or I'd work at about 1/10th speed just to make sure.

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InTheSwiss
I have been on Ambien (Zolpidem here in the UK) for 5 years now after being
diagnosed with insomnia due to PTSD (actually diagnosed by three doctors at a
psychiatric hospital where I had to spend 4 months in 2009 not some self-
diagnosis) and I am not too sure on this evidence. I know a lot of people who
suffer true insomnia (as in doing several days with perhaps 15 minutes sleep)
and thinking you got good sleep does not make up for the fact that you are
actually going several days with awful sleep. I am sure there is some kind of
psychosomatic side that makes you perform better because you think you will
but suffering _real_ lack of sleep cannot be "tricked" better with positive
thinking just like how depression cannot be fixed by just "thinking happy".

~~~
carbocation
The study population was undergrad students, not insomniacs (I mean, maybe
self-styled, but you know what I mean). Therefore, you're probably right that
this finding might not generalize to a distinct population with disordered
sleep. But for the typical HN reader, it might be of more interest.

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tarekmoz
I wonder for how long the experiment was done.

I found out that under-sleeping had a very bad impact on me after _several_
months, not in a short/mid term. And I have the feeling this placebo effect
would not be the same if you've been under-sleeping for months.

The original article link is broken though, too bad.

~~~
mercer
How do you tell that the 'bad impact' is due to under-sleeping, and what
effects do you notice?

I have sleep issues with some regularity, so I'm very curious to hear of your
experiences.

~~~
tarekmoz
This is just my gut feeling, things are probably more complex, but here's why
I think sleep deprivation deeply impacts us:

I used to have a crazy schedule, commuting very early and coming back quite
late at home, sleeping between 4 to 5 hours a day. I've noticed I was often in
a bad mood, dropping things, feeling anxious. gaining weight and so on...
After a couple of years I was feeling depressed and getting sick all the time.

Then I had a new job and started to work remotely from home, and started to
sleep 8 to 9 hours per night. Both works were interesting, and commuting to
the first one was done by train, so I think the only noticeable difference was
the amount of sleep I was getting.

With more sleep, after a month, I became more focused in everything, the
depression feelings went away, and had so much more energy. Overall I was more
successful in what I was doing - happier and healthier.

I guess all of this sounds obvious, but going through it, making sure I get my
8-9 hours of sleep most of the time is something I am now careful about.

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tluyben2
Speaking for myself; believing I slept too short/badly (like when I think I
lay awake most of the night while my wife saw I slept solidly) impairs my
performance worse than believing I slept well while I haven't improves it.

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ChrisNorstrom
Very true. I noticed that if I stop looking at the clock before I go to sleep
and I assume I'm getting 8 hours of sleep I wake up feeling great. A few times
I glanced at the time when setting my alarm and just knowing how many hours
I'm going to get makes me wake up tired. So I went around the house and put
tape over the clocks I couldn't turn off (microwave). Turns out life without
knowing the time is a lot more calm, productive, and enjoyable.

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mhb
And: _Keep Telling Yourself, ‘This Workout Feels Good’_

[http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/11/06/keep-repeating-
this...](http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/11/06/keep-repeating-this-workout-
feels-good/?_php=true&_type=blogs&_r=0)

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oscardelben
There is some other research that suggests that placebo works even when you
know it's placebo.

