Hypnopaedia : Learning something while sleeping

Leshan (1942) tested the theory of sleep-learning on a group of nail-biting boys attending summer camp. The experimental group consisted of 20 nail-biting subjects, aged 8 to 12 years. There were two control groups: the first consisted of 8 nail-biters, aged 8 to 10 years, the second consisted of 12 nail biters, aged 11 to 14 years

The recorded message, “My finger-nails taste terribly bitter,” was repeated 50 times, 6 times a night.The results supported Leshan’s theory that recorded messages played during sleep incite mental activity. 40% of the boys quit biting their nails.

Another interesting experiment:

In 1952 the Journal of Experimental Psychology reported tests which had been conducted at George Washington University. Students were taught Chinese during sleep, between two-thirty and three A.M. The students were divided into three groups: the first group heard the Chinese words, but with mismatched English words; the second group heard the Chinese words and their English equivalents; the third group heard Strauss waltzes.

The first group required 11.1 repetitions; the second group mastered them in only 5.6 repetitions, and the third group needed 17.7 repetitions (so far as we know this group was not tested on their knowledge of Strauss waltzes).

Personally, I had many teaching dreams where I learned stuffs, I have been able to incubate such dreams by reading a book at night on the subject of my study and using some suggestions to receive more information about the subject during my sleep.

Another workable method of learning during sleep is to use the Silva Ultramind and program yourself to have dreams where you learn stuffs and you remember the stuffs you learned. Lucid dream also can be used one guy I know used lucid dream to improve his martial arts skill.

I will try to play with this again in the coming days.

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