Effect of sleep quality on examination performance [Completed]

A Tokyo Techies Student Research Project

Research Adviser: Robin Garhwal

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Abstract

This research was conducted because the student was interested in finding out how sleep quality affected exam results. At the time, the student was using a sleep tracking application every night to gather the necessary data for this study. While sleeping, humans become immobile, so a sleep tracking application is needed to track sleeping patterns as data for this project. At first, the student wanted to know how sleep tracking apps worked, so the student wanted to create a sleep tracking app of her own. However, after the student realized the complexity in building an application from scratch, the student decided to use existing applications to conduct her research.  The student was interested in psychology and how human brains work, so finding out how sleep quality affected the brain intrigued her. So, the student decided to conduct a research on effects of sleep quality, length of sleep, and length deep sleep on accuracy and speed/alertness of reaction.

 

Keywords

sleep quality ;  length of sleep ; effect on exam scores ; sleep pattern

 

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1. Objective
   The primary objective of this student project is to research how sleep quality affects cognitive performance speed and accuracy.
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2. Hypothesis
   Higher sleep efficiency leads to faster reaction time.
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3. Approach and methodology
   a) Track Sleep 
   Using sleep apps to measure sleep efficiency, minutes of sleep, Minutes of deep + Rapid Eye Movement (REM) sleep.
   Sleep Apps used in this research project: “Sleep Time”.
   Using “Sleep Time” application to record
   • • Total hours of sleep
     • % Efficiency = [(Hours Light Sleep + Hours Deep/REM Sleep) ÷ Total Hours in Bed] x 100
     • Awake/Light/Deep + REM sleep time

   b) Take a Cognitive Test 

   Cognitive tests to measure response reaction time and response accuracy
   

   c) Survey 
   Conduct a survey to collect results from sleep app and test. Participants need to fill out after tracking their sleep and taking the sleep test.
   

   d) Analysis 
   Data Analysis is conducted to find correlation between sleep parameters and performance parameters
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4. Results Overview
   – Included positive/ negative correlation.
   – Included all parameters compared.
   – Found correlation in 4 sets of data collected.
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5. Discussion and conclusions
   In this Tokyo Techies student research project, a conclusion is drawn that higher sleep efficiency leads to better reaction time and accuracy.
   However, there are possible limitations that is needed to provide a better result for this experiment such as the accuracy in the Minutes of Sleep recorded, the limited participants and the simplicity of the test.
   

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References

1. How Sleep Deprivation Affects Psychological Variables Related to College Students’ Cognitive Performance by the Journal of American College Health
   June J. Pilcher PhD & Amy S. Walters MA
   http://www.tandfonline.com/loi/vach20
2. The influence of sleep quality, sleep duration and sleepiness on school performance in children and adolescents: A meta-analytic review
   Julia F. Dewald , Anne M. Meijer ,Frans J. Oort , Gerard A. Kerkhof , Susan M. Bo ̈gels
3. The Relationships between Sleep-Wake Cycle and Academic Performance in Medical Students
   Ana Ligia D. Medeiros, Denise B.F. Mendes, Patrícia F. Lima and John F. Araujo
4. The interaction between sleep quality and academic performance.
   K. Ahrberg , M. Dresler , S. Niedermaier , A. Steiger , L. Genzel a,*
5. The Link Between Sleep Quantity and Academic Performance for the College Student
   Megan Lowry1, Kayla Dean2, and Keith Manders