South Australian Certificate of Education

International

PSYCHOLOGY :

SELF IMPROVEMENT
STUDY

NAME : SATHYSSH NAIDU A/L V RAJENDRAN

SACE ID :
LECTURERS NAME : MS MAY LIN
WORD COUNT : 1524 WORDS
Proposal

Ive realized I was easily get tired and depress once Ive started my college life for a
month. Besides, I feel like Im not having good time for sleep. Having an improper
sleeps had indirectly made me demotivated to face my daily challenges. In order
increase my academic productivity, I believe having a proper sleep can increase my
focus towards studies and feel motivated to face my daily challenges. I will choose
experimental design as my research program. Objective quantitative data will be
statistically analyzed.

In this five weeks self-improvement course, I decided to not control myself in the
first week, I will monitor my normal behavior and keep records of what time I will
wake up and sleep. During weeks 2 and 3, I will set goals for myself. I will sleep early
at night like 9pm or 10pm and wake up early in morning like 5am or 6am by using
Bedtime Alarm application.

Besides that, I will give myself a daily and weekly rewards if I behave as planned.
If I had achieved my goal in a day, I will reward myself RM 10 for everyday I wake
up early in the morning and sleep early at the night. If I managed to reach my daily
target in a week, I will reward myself RM 50 and a new pair of clothes for myself. If
Ive failed to meet my plan, I will tell my parents to deduct my weekly pocket money.

(244 words)

1.0 Introduction
Sleep plays a critical role in thinking and learning. Lack of sleep hurts these cognitive
processes in many ways. First, it impairs attention, alertness, concentration, reasoning,
and problem solving. This makes it more difficult to learn efficiently. Second, during
the night, various sleep cycles play a role in consolidating memories in the mind. If
you dont get enough sleep, you wont be able to remember what you learned and
experienced during the day. Sleep disorders and chronic sleep loss can put you at risk
for heart disease, heart attack, heart failure, irregular heartbeat, high blood pressure, stroke.
According to some estimates, 90% of people with insomnia a sleep disorder
characterized by trouble falling and staying asleep also have another health condition.
[1]
. Due to the curiosity of these inspections, this assignment focuses on improving the
habit of sleeping also known as insomnia. In interest of lessening this inevitable habit,
a self experimental research has been done to positively develop oneself. Aim of
choosing this particular subject is to exterminate the feeling of accomplishment when
succeed to gain self respect. In order to be a better person in general, succeeding this
experiment will be considered as basic progress to achieve the following goals.

2.0 Research Design and Method

Before officially starting the self-improvement study, an investigation design and
method was chosen to ease the process of data collecting. Due to the consistent
occurrence of deception from oneself, a quantitative observational investigation
design using numerical form of data collection seems to be the most eligible design
for the study. In addition, a naturalistic observation method supports accurate
objective data when the study of behavior was conducted which provides better
understanding of the result. It happens to also be one of the most well known
observation method that may lead insights to help oneself overcome issues similar to
the one examined in this statement.

Reason of specifically choosing this method is first because it allows the subject of
sleeping hours to be investigated directly in a natural setting. Since the discussed
subject is conducted under a field condition, quantitative method of data gathering
allows the evidence to be measured based on reality which is highly reliable. As we
know, this method has a common disadvantage of experimenter bias which increases
the chances of imprecise results. In order achieve the purpose of improving oneself, a
responsibility is held to present honest and legitimate information in the following
report.

3.0 Results
A sleeping brain is an active brain. While youre resting, your brain is actually in a
highly active state. It processes complex information and even prepares for future
actions when youre unconscious,according to a study published last year in the journal
Current Biology. It also creates new memories and consolidates older memories for easier
retrieval. A series of studies conducted by researchers from the University of Rochester
also found recently that the brain is busy doing some house-cleaning while were
asleep, clearing out damaging toxins that can contribute to neurodegeneration.We
need sleep, Dr. Nedergaard, the studys lead researcher, told the National Institutes of Health . It
cleans up the brain.[2].Getting to be plainly mindful of the risks in this matter, much
exertion has been put into this self-experiment for recreating oneself. After five weeks
of observation, outcomes can be seen in the table below.

Days
Sunday Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday Reward

Weeks
Week 1 9 hours 3 hours 3 hours 3 hours 3 hours 3 hours 10 hours Nothing

Week 2 8 hours 8 hours 8 hours 8 hours 8 hours 8 hours 8 hours RM 120

Week 3 8 hours 10 hours 8 hours 9 hours 8 hours 7 hours 11 hours RM 40

Week 4 8 hours 8 hours 8 hours 8 hours 8 hours 8 hours 9 hours RM 120

Week 5 8 hours 8 hours 8 hours 8 hours 8 hours 8 hours 8 hours Nothing

Table 1

Total Hours of Sleep

Week 1 34 HOURS
Week 2 56 HOURS
Week 3 62 HOURS
Week 4 56 HOURS
Week 5 56 HOURS

Calculating the mean using the total hours of sleep told in five weeks as illustrated
below :
Amounts
34 , 56 , 62 , 56 , 56
Sum = 264
Mean = 264 / 5
Sum = 52.8
A mean of 52.8 indicates that 53 is the average or typical amount hours of sleep.

Graph
1

4.0
Discussion

During the study of improving oneself, I have decided to dig up more regarding the
sleep to understand myself better. Information gathered from multiple sources has
made me to realize. In my personal case, I went through a difficult 2 years phase in
my life, where sleep was a huge issue. I was tossing and turning, listening to the radio,
getting up, trying sleeping tablets nothing seemed to work. Eventually I did some
research on the internet for this 5 weeks and the following tips helped me greatly
avoid caffeine,f

The first week of this experiment is I just focused on observing the time period I slept
and wake up as stated above in the table . By knowing the differences between sleep
and woke up, it helps alter my behavior which could automatically influence the
attitude to practice oneself to sleep earlier and wake up earlier . From my point of
view, this is one of the essentials to bury in mind in contemplation of the change of
behavior and attitude.

While pondering about this experiment, it strikes in thought of getting support from
my mom and siblings. Even my Bed Time Applications help me in this experiment.
Knowing the unfavorable consequences, it is better to against the idea and be sure of
oneself instead. Quoting one of the most well-known person, Mahamath Gandhi, Each
night, when I go to sleep, I die. And the next morning, when I wake up, I am reborn. In my
opinion, some information is best to be kept to oneself by denying the truth rather
than confronting inevitable complications. On the second week of the study, I have
trained to sleep and wake up early with the help of my mom and Bed Time
Application. In other words, my actions are observed attentively by myself in order to
be able to reward myself with a RM 10 each day and RM 50 for the successful week.

At the third week, I failed to achieve the reward cause of the improper sleep. I slept
too much cause of having night activities with brother and as I said my mom deducted
my weekly pocket money due to the extra sleeps but I just do not give up easily so I
just continue my fourth week like what I planned early and achieve back my rewards
as my second week. Your victory is right around the corner. Never give up. said by Nicki
Minaj.

By the fifth week, the level of confidence increased excessively where I thought my
sleeping hours can be controlled easily and I do not reward myself on the fifth week
because Im improving myself day by day.

As displayed on Table 1, self-rewards has been given two times which is Week 2 and
Week 4 as self appreciation for the effort put into this experiment in spite of the
occasional negative outcome during the conduct of the experiment.
5.0 Conclusion

After conducting the self-experiment to stabilized my sleep in five weeks, the data gathered is
personally satisfying enough to consider succeeding the whole study. Based on experience, there is
no easy method of breaking such a detestable habit. As an exploder, we revel in deception excessively
to the point where it is almost impossible to stabilized sleep without any further consequences. The
psychological stresses of our lives interfere with sleep and aid in the suppression of our immune
system. Sleep is tightly woven into healthy neurological and hormonal function. If you want to have
good moods, high energy, clear thoughts and actually recover from your training, then you need to
make sleep a priority. Make the changes you would for any other goal or priority, such as focusing on
your diet or spending more time with friends, it takes effort and hard work. In the end I learned a that
sleep supplements are not the answer to my insomnia, but paying attention to my personal sleep
needs and adopting a sleep smart lifestyle are the answers. This may mean calming down early, saying
no to friends, not answering the phone or emails, and stop going out at night. I finally realized that I
am willing to make the sacrifice for a good nights sleep. Finalizing the conclusion for this experiment I
would like to express that the influence of this study has resulted in beneficial proficiency. Not only
has it developed ones inspection skills, but also being able to gain and maintain self control in sleeps.
References

1. Peri, C. (2010). Lack of sleep :

[online] Retrieved June 15th at
http://www.webmd.com/sleep-disorders/features/10-results-sleep-loss#1

2. Gregoine, C. (2016). Learn About Sleep : . [online] Retrieved June 15th at

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/05/25/sleep-research-health_n_7215662.html

3. Good Sleep Habits. (2014). Good Sleeping Habits : Ways to sleep. [online]
Retrieved June 16th at
http://www.sleephealthfoundation.org.au/fact-sheets-a-z/187-good-sleep-habits.html