User:SomnolenceScientist/sandbox


 * 1) intro

The cognitive shuffle is a cognitive strategy meant to facilitate initial sleep onset, or subsequent sleep onset after early awakening from sleep. The cognitive shuffle was developed by [Luc P. Beaudoin, Adjunct Professor at Simon Fraser University (SFU)](http://www.sfu.ca/~lpb/), and originally [published on SFU Summit](https://www.researchgate.net/publication/265850076). It is based on Beaudoin's theory of the human sleep onset control system called the somnolent information processing theory

Beaudoin, L. P., Pudło, M., & Hyniewska, S. (2020). Mental Perturbance: An integrative design-oriented concept for understanding repetitive thought, emotions and related phenomena involving a loss of control of executive functions. SFU Educational Review, 13(1), 29-58. https://doi.org/10.21810/sfuer.v13i1.1282 Beaudoin, L. P. (2013, revised in 2014). The possibility of super-somnolent mentation: A new information-processing approach to sleep-onset acceleration and insomnia exemplified by serial diverse imagining. (40 pages): (https://www.researchgate.net/publication/265850076). Selham, Z., Guloy, S., Bastien, C., Beaudoin, L. P., & Carrier, J. (2019). Research process and sleep app design lessons learned from the reflective examination of a sleep study. In. World Sleep Congress proceedings. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/337963998
 * Towards an integrative design-oriented theory of sleep-onset and insomnolence from which a new cognitive treatment for insomnolence (serial diverse kinesthetic imagining, a form of cognitive shuffling) is proposed." Abstract of poster presented at the World Sleep Congress 2019-09-22. Vancouver, BC. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/336281449

Beaudoin, L. P., Digdon, N., O’Neill, K., & Rachor, G. (2016). Serial diverse imagining task: A new remedy for bedtime complaints of worrying and other sleep-disruptive mental activity. In (p. A209). Denver. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/300004607


 * 1) The cognitive shuffle as a form of Serial Diverse Imagining

The cognitive shuffle is a cognitive strategy in which one briefly thinks about a neutral or pleasant target for a short period of time (normally every 5-15 seconds) and then switches to thinking about an unrelated target. This could involve one or more of several types of mental processes. Serial diverse imagining (SDI) is a form of cognitive shuffling involving mental imagery, in which one imagines a concrete (as opposed to highly abstract) target-—such as a person, place, thing, actions and/or scene -— and then switches to imagining a different target (a different person, place, thing, action, and/or scene). For example, one might imagine Pluto, eyeliner, a birthday party, a shed, playing golf, and so on. One is instructed not to attempt to relate one target to another. One wouldn’t, for instance, imagine placing eyeliner around Pluto at a birthday party. This is to create diversity. A version of SDI involves imagining oneself drawing a target person, place, thing, actions and/or scene (analogous to Pictionary but in one’s head.

Beaudoin views cognitive shuffling as a new form of meditation  in that it involves deliberate control of mentation, involving meta-cognition in general and meta-cognitive control in particular.[refer to this again: Beaudoin, L. P. ( 2014). The possibility of super-somnolent mentation: A new information-processing approach to sleep-onset acceleration and insomnia exemplified by serial diverse imagining. (40 pages): (https://www.researchgate.net/publication/265850076))

Beaudoin 2014 .[refer to this again: Beaudoin, L. P. ( 2014). The possibility of super-somnolent mentation: A new information-processing approach to sleep-onset acceleration and insomnia exemplified by serial diverse imagining. (40 pages): (https://www.researchgate.net/publication/265850076)) distinguished two forms of SDI:

1. technology-assisted SDI in which software generates a random sequence of words to be imagined. Using text-to-speech technology (or pre-recorded voice files), each word is spoken through an earpiece or speaker, in sequence, a configurable number of seconds apart. (Normally, 5-10 seconds). The participant imagines items referenced by the words 2. In self-directed SDI, the participant conjures up an arbitrary seed word or expression, preferably one comprised of between 5-12 letters. The participant iteratively spells the word, each letter of which is a cue letter. For each cue letter, the participant sequentially recalls a target that starts with that letter. The participant then imagines an instance (or application) of the target (or involving the target concept), independently for 5-10 seconds as described above. The participant may switch to a different letter if she has difficulty finding a word that starts with that letter, or for whatever reason. If the participant exhausts the letters in the seed word, she then produces a new word. She continues with this procedure until she has fallen asleep.

Pilot data was gathered on the cognitive shuffle using an app SomnoTest, which was a free version of the commercial mySleepButton® app, as reported in [use the same 2016 reference Beaudoin, L. P., Digdon, N., O’Neill, K., & Rachor, G. (2016). Serial diverse imagining task: A new remedy for bedtime complaints of worrying and other sleep-disruptive mental activity. In (p. A209). Denver. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/300004607 Poster presented at SLEEP 2016 (A joint meeting of the American Academy of Sleep Medicine and the Sleep Research Society). Denver, CO.

An additional pilot study was conducted and some of its data reported at the World Sleep Congress 2019 [Selham, Z., Guloy, S., Bastien, C., Beaudoin, L. P., & Carrier, J. (2019). Research process and sleep app design lessons learned from the reflective examination of a sleep study. https://summit.sfu.ca/item/18925]


 * 1) somnolent information processing theory

The cognitive shuffle is based on Beaudoin’s somnolent information processing theory, which was presented at World Sleep Congress 2019 : Beaudoin, L., Lemyre, A., Pudło, M., & Bastien, C. (2019). “Towards an integrative design-oriented theory of sleep-onset and insomnolence from which a new cognitive treatment for insomnolence (serial diverse kinesthetic imagining, a form of cognitive shuffling) is proposed.” Abstract of poster presented at the World Sleep Congress 2019-09-22. Vancouver, BC. BC.](https://www.researchgate.net/publication/336281449) and summarized in [Beaudoin, L. P., Pudło, M., & Hyniewska, S. (2020). Mental Perturbance: An integrative design-oriented concept for understanding repetitive thought, emotions and related phenomena involving a loss of control of executive functions. SFU Educational Review, 13(1), 29-58. https://doi.org/10.21810/sfuer.v13i1.1282] and in several interviews https://mysleepbutton.com/press/.

The somnolent information processing theory postulates the existence of a sleep onset control system that evolved to ensure that falling asleep tends to happen when it is evolutionarily opportune (safe, timely) to fall asleep. The theory claims control of human somnolence posed a significant evolutionary challenge particularly due to human's hyper-abundant cortex. Beaudoin’s theory stipulates that somnolence (propensity for sleep) is deemed to be a function of the sleep onset control system. External cues (such as physical threats) and internal mechanisms (such as alarms or mental perturbance) may be insomnolent, meaning they tend to delay sleep onset; or pro-somnolent (meaning they tend to promote sleep onset); or asomnolent (meaning they have no particular effect on sleep onset. Beaudoin and his co-authors claim that mental perturbance is insomnolent (Beaudoin, L. P., Lemyre, A., & Bastien, C. (2019). Towards an integrative design-oriented theory of sleep-onset and insomnolence from which a new cognitive treatment for insomnolence (serial diverse kinesthetic imagining, a form of cognitive shuffling) is proposed. In. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/337970679. )

Mental perturbance as insomnolent

Mental perturbance is a concept developed by Aaron Sloman of the University of Birmingham initially while he was at Sussex [ref http://www.cs.bham.ac.uk/research/projects/cogaff/]. Beaudoin was Sloman's Ph.D. student [ref: https://cogzest.com/2020/06/homage-to-aaron-sloman-winner-of-the-2020-apa-k-jon-barwise-prize/]. Luc P. Beaudoin discussed perturbance in his phd thesis (https://www.researchgate.net/publication/2334804_Goal_Processing_in_Autonomous_Agents). The concept of mental perturbance is notable for many reasons, including having been discussed in the seminal book _Affective Computing_ authored by Picard and published by MIT Press (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Affective_computing), which is the book that brought affective computing research to the attention of many scholars. Mental perturbance is known in Aaron Sloman's theories of emotion as "tertiary emotion" Sloman, A. (2003). [How many separately evolved emotional beasties live within us? In R. Trappl, P. Petta, & S. Payr (Eds.), (pp. 35-114). MIT Press.](https://www.cs.bham.ac.uk/research/projects/cogaff/sloman.vienna99.pdf).

Beaudoin and Sloman defined mental perturbance (or tertiary emotion) as an emergent state in which an insistent motivator tends to control executive functions [cite: Beaudoin, L. P., Pudło, M., & Hyniewska, S. (2020). Mental Perturbance: An integrative design-oriented concept for understanding repetitive thought, emotions and related phenomena involving a loss of control of executive functions. _SFU Educational Review_, _13_(1), 29-58. https://doi.org/10.21810/sfuer.v13i1.1282] Cite also: Beaudoin, L. P., & Sloman, A. (1993). A study of motive processing and attention. In A. Sloman, D. Hogg, G. Humphreys, D. Partridge, & A. Ramsay (Eds.), (pp. 229-238). IOS Press. http://www.cs.bham.ac.uk/research/projects/cogaff/81-95.html\#16

Sloman, A. (1992). Prolegomena to a theory of communication and affect. In A. Ortony, J. Slack, & O. Stock (Eds.), (pp. 229-260). http://books.google.ca/books?id=7gQOMwEACAAJ&amp;dq=intitle:Prolegomena+to+a+Theory+of+Communication+and+Affect&amp;hl=&amp;cd=2&amp;source=gbs_api

Beaudoin, L. P., & Sloman, A. (1991). A proposal for a study of motive processing.

Sloman, A. (1987). Motives, mechanisms, and emotions. Cognition &amp; Emotion, 1(3), 217-233. https://doi.org/10.1080/02699938708408049

Sloman, A., & Croucher, M. (1981). You don’t need a soft skin to have a warm heart: Towards a computational analysis of motives and emotions. Cognitive Science Research Paper. http://www1.cs.bham.ac.uk/research/projects/cogaff/sloman-croucher-warm-heart.pdf

Sloman, A., & Croucher, M. (1981). Why robots will have emotions. Proc 7th Int. Joint Conf. on AI, June)..

Beaudoin claims that mental perturbance is insomnolent and that the cognitive shuffle can interfere with mental perturbance, making it "counter-insomnolent". Counter-insomnolent processes are information processes that interfere with insomnolent processes.


 * 1) commercialization of the cognitive shuffle in  mySleepButton by CogSci Apps Corp.

The [mySleepButton® app for iPhone and Android](https://mySleepButton.com) was developed by CogSci Apps Corp., a Canadian federally incorporated company co-founded by Beaudoin. CogSci Apps Corp. also developed SomnoTest, which is a free version of mySleepButton designed for researchers to test somnolent information processing theory and assess the cognitive shuffle. These two apps are meant to make it easier for people to engage in the cognitive shuffle (particularly SDI). The apps read randomly presented words and or phrases that are pre-selected to be easy to imagine. This is meant to decrease cognitive load and creativity requirements, as the user does not need to decide what to imagine -— more precisely the cues played by the apps narrow the range of what to imagine. CogSci Apps Corp. claims on its https://mySleepButton.com website that the content read by mySleepButton might interrupt insomnolent mentation, thereby perhaps lending additional counter-insomnolence to the app.


 * 1) Notability

mySleepButton and the cognitive shuffle have received substantial media coverage, including articles in Forbes, Inc., The Guardian, The New York Times, CBC, O Magazine, LifeHacker, HuffPost, Women’s Health Magazine, and several others. per [Press](https://mysleepbutton.com/press/) which contains more references of TV, newspaper, and online coverage.


 * 1) See also


 * 1) notes