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Cited by 311Sleep and Work-Related FatigueSleep and Wakefulness ResearchCreativity in Education and Neuroscience

Sleep Loss and “Divergent” Thinking Ability

Horne, J. A.·1988·Sleep
DOI 10.1093/sleep/11.6.528
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Abstract

Although much is known about the impact of sleep loss on many aspects of psychological performance, the effects on divergent ("creative") thinking has received little attention. Twelve subjects went 32 h without sleep, and 12 others acted as normally sleeping controls. All subjects were assessed on the figural and verbal versions of the Torrance Tests of Creative Thinking. As compared with the control condition, sleep loss impaired performance on all test scales (e.g., "flexibility," the ability to change strategy, and "originality," generation of unusual ideas) for both versions, even on an initial 5-min test component. In an attempt at further understanding of whether these findings might be explained solely by a loss of motivation, two additional short and stimulating tests were also used--a word fluency task incorporating high incentive to do well and a challenging nonverbal planning test. Performance at these tasks was still significantly impaired by sleep loss. Increased perseveration was clearly apparent. Apparently, 1 night of sleep loss can affect divergent thinking. This contrasts with the outcome for convergent thinking tasks, which are more resilient to short-term sleep loss.

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Crossref · 10.1093/sleep/11.6.528

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  • The beneficial effect of sleep deprivation on mood is linked with emotional lability and inappropriate emotional reactivity in healthy adults under sleep deprivation.

    “On the other hand, sleep loss is also related to a compromised consolidation of negative emotional memories (Sterpenich et al., 2007), and this beneficial effect on the mood is linked with emotional lability and inappropriate emotional reactivity in healthy adults under sleep deprivation (Horne, 1988; Dahl, 1996; Gujar et al., 2011).”

    From The Functional Role of Dreaming in Emotional Processes (2019) · cites this paper as Horne, 1988

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Authors
Horne, J. A.
Affiliations
Loughborough University (GB)
Corresponding author
Horne, J. A.
ORCID
Horne, J. A.
Venue
Sleep
Publisher
Oxford University Press (OUP)
Published
1988-09
Volume
11
Issue
6
Pages
528-536
ISSN
  • 0161-8105 (ISSN-L)
  • 1550-9109
DOI
10.1093/sleep/11.6.528
OpenAlex
W2129312066
Cited by
311
References
0
Citations by year
2026: 5 · 2025: 9 · 2024: 5 · 2023: 6 · 2022: 6 · 2021: 9 · 2020: 14 · 2019: 11 · 2018: 7 · 2017: 11 · 2016: 10 · 2015: 13 · 2014: 12 · 2013: 13 · 2012: 16
FWCI
0.00
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
closed
Locations
  • SLEEP (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
Topics
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Experimental and Cognitive Psychology › Sleep and Work-Related Fatigue
  • Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Sleep and Wakefulness Research
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Experimental and Cognitive Psychology › Creativity in Education and Neuroscience
Keywords
sleep deprivation, divergent thinking, creative thinking, Torrance Tests of Creative Thinking, flexibility, originality, perseveration, verbal fluency, motivation, convergent thinking, cognitive performance
MeSH terms
Adult, Arousal, Attention, Creativity, Fatigue, Female, Humans, Male, Pilot Projects, Problem Solving, Psychological Tests, Sleep Deprivation, Thinking

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