The Impact of Sleep on Creativity
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Authors
Chalmers, Isabella
Chaffin, Emma
Benge, Kalei
Wright, Joshua
Date of Issue
2024
Type
Presentation
Language
en_US
Subject Keywords
Other Titles
Abstract
High-quality sleep is essential for the brain's full cognitive functioning (Sewell et al.,(2023). It is common for students to struggle with the motivation needed to complete academic tasks when they need more sleep (Edens, 2006). Research has also shown a lack of sleep decreases cognitive function and thus hurts academic performance (Buboltz et al., 2009). In this experiment, the quality of a participant’s sleep is hypothesized to influence their level of creativity, thus influencing their score on the Remote Associates Test (RAT). The RAT evaluates the creativity of participants by gauging how well they can take two separate elements and put them together to create a solution (Mednick, 1962). Participants consisting of Carroll College students ages 18-26 were asked to complete the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI) and then the RAT. The Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI) is a widely used self-reported questionnaire designed to assess sleep quality over a 1-month interval. Researchers at the University of Pittsburgh developed it to evaluate various aspects of sleep, including subjective sleep quality, sleep latency, sleep duration, habitual sleep efficiency, sleep disturbances, use of sleep medication, and daytime dysfunction (Buysee et al., 1989). The scores were separated into two groups, good sleepers, and bad sleepers, and the average RAT scores were compared. While there was a visible difference between the groups, it was not statistically significant, confirming the null hypothesis. Results from this experiment suggest that college students of typical age are less affected by poor sleep than the general population.