Dear Eugene,
What you say reminds me a lot about incubation processess in insight.
There is a book edited by Robert Sternberg which is call The Nature of
Insigth. There is a chapter there by Czsikzentmihaly that makes
contextual/cultural links with those processes.
David
Quoting Eugene Matusov <ematusov@udel.edu>:
> Dear David-
>
> You wrote,
> > I am not aware of any direct link with sleep. It
> > may not be just an effect of being phisically fresh?
>
> It does not seem to be just being fresh. In the program, they were
> saying
> that people learn after experiencing so-called "fast sleep" but do
> not after
> "slow sleep" (I also remember them talking about eye movements,
> dreaming,
> and certain brain activities during "fast sleeps"). Usually series of
> "fast"
> and "slow" sleep alternate, however more "fast sleeps" occur just
> before
> people wake up "naturally". The study claimed that if a person is
> waked up
> before experiencing many "fast sleeps", he or she shows little
> learning.
> However, if the person experienced many "fast" sleeps, there is
> evidence of
> learning (i.e., improvements of certain tasks). Again, I want to
> remind you
> that their experiments on learning involve very decontextualized
> motor
> tasks. In the program, the subjects were teenagers and the point of
> the
> program was that the teens do not have enough sleep because their
> "natural"
> sleep cycle often shifts to later time in night - late morning (even
> noon)
> and does not fit school schedule that results in inhibiting learning
> because
> they have fewer "fast sleeps". As to feeling fresh, people can feel
> fresh
> with or without experiencing many "fast sleeps".
>
> In research on learning, changes in organism are often not taken
> into
> account. Although, when they are, it tends to be very
> decontextualized
> research from behavioristic and information-processing
> perspectives.
>
> I found some of these studies on the Internet:
> http://coe.sdsu.edu/eet/Articles/sleep_memory/index.htm
> http://216.239.39.104/search?
q=cache:85Wo79RKNdsJ:a1162.fmg.uva.nl/~djb/publ
> ications/1989/biermanwinter.pdf+learning+during+sleep&hl=en&ie=UTF-8
>
> http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2003/10/031009065044.htm
>
> It can be interesting for situated cognition, sociocultural and AT
> approaches to look at the phenomenon. For example, it would be a
> fascinating
> research to track how different cultures (and historical times)
> manage
> learning during sleep. In Russian folk fairytales, heroes are often
> advised
> to go to sleep after they faced with a difficult challenge because
> "morning
> is wiser than evening." I do not know how other cultures approach it
> but I'm
> sure they did. In Europe, after the Enlightenment, learning during
> sleep
> seemed to be rejected as a superstition, although, again it was
> interesting
> to track it. With reference to, I guess, Levy-Brule (sp?), Vygotsky
> mentioned about traditional cultures when influential people wanted
> to see
> in sleep a solution of a problem they faced. Vygotsky saw it a
> "primitive"
> decision making, but, as we know, he was very Euro-centric. My
> examples seem
> to be more about decision making than about learning (although,
> they
> obviously relate) but it can be interesting to check specifically
> about
> learning as well.
>
> Learning during sleep undermines a pedagogical myth that teaching
> directly
> causes learning or must directly cause learning. It also undermines
> another,
> but related, pedagogical myth that learning (and experience) is
> clearly
> concentrated rather being fuzzy and distributed on the time scale.
> Learning
> during sleep makes post-event learning more evident.
>
> What do you think?
>
> Eugene
>
> > -----Original Message-----
> > From: david.preiss@yale.edu [mailto:david.preiss@yale.edu]
> > Sent: Monday, March 22, 2004 1:00 AM
> > To: xmca@weber.ucsd.edu
> > Subject: RE: Reflection and change in a CHAT/Cultural Psychology
> paradigm
> >
> >
> >
> > Dear Eugene,
> >
> > I think that cognitive research on insight and incubation may give
> you
> > some keys, although I am not aware of any direct link with sleep.
> It
> > may not be just an effect of being phisically fresh?
> >
> > David
> >
> > Quoting Eugene Matusov <ematusov@udel.edu>:
> >
> > > Dear Phil-
> > >
> > > Thanks, Phil. I've heard about work of Lozanov and suggestopaedia
> but
> > > I do
> > > not know any research about that. But the research I was talking
> does
> > > not
> > > seem to relate to Lozanov and suggestopaedia. I think that we
> all
> > > familiar
> > > with the phenomenon when "morning is wiser than evening" (using
> > > Russian
> > > saying), we felt changed after a sleep. Some people even talk
> about
> > > problem
> > > being solved during asleep but there is (at least anecdotal)
> evidence
> > > that
> > > people can improve their skills and understanding after being
> > > asleep....
> > >
> > > I'd like to read any research about that...
> > >
> > > Eugene
> > >
> > > > -----Original Message-----
> > > > From: Phil Chappell [mailto:phil_chappell@access.inet.co.th]
> > > > Sent: Saturday, March 20, 2004 8:22 PM
> > > > To: xmca@weber.ucsd.edu
> > > > Subject: Re: Reflection and change in a CHAT/Cultural
> Psychology
> > > paradigm
> > > >
> > > > Is that anything along the lines of the work of Lozanov and
> > > > suggestopaedia, Eugene?
> > > >
> > > > Phil
> > > > On Mar 21, 2004, at 8:01 AM, Eugene Matusov wrote:
> > > >
> > > > > Talking about sleeping. Does somebody know good research
> > > references
> > > > > about
> > > > > learning during (fast) sleep? About a month ago, I saw a
> program
> > > on PBS
> > > > > about some research (I guess in Canada) about that. It was
> a
> > > research
> > > > > about
> > > > > teenagers learning a rather simple motor task (very
> > > decontextualized)
> > > > > before
> > > > > going to sleep and then checked immediately after sleep.
> The
> > > research
> > > > > shows
> > > > > that people learn during fast sleep...
> > > > >
> > > > > Eugene
> > > > >
> > > > >> -----Original Message-----
> > > > >> From: Mike Cole [mailto:mcole@weber.ucsd.edu]
> > > > >> Sent: Saturday, March 20, 2004 7:33 PM
> > > > >> To: xmca@weber.ucsd.edu
> > > > >> Subject: RE: Reflection and change in a CHAT/Cultural
> > > Psychology
> > > > >> paradigm
> > > > >>
> > > > >> If my early morning are reflective and "reflective" of being
> in
> > > a near
> > > > >> sleeping state, heaven help our students who are becoming
> > > sleepier by
> > > > >> the
> > > > >> minute.
> > > > >>
> > > > >> mike
> > > > >
> > > > >
> > > > >
> > >
> > >
>
>
This archive was generated by hypermail 2b29 : Tue Nov 09 2004 - 11:42:23 PST