{"id":35457,"date":"2023-11-06T16:40:00","date_gmt":"2023-11-06T16:40:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/?p=35457"},"modified":"2023-11-06T18:53:47","modified_gmt":"2023-11-06T18:53:47","slug":"whats-your-chronotype-knowing-whether-youre-a-night-owl-or-an-early-bird-could-help-you-do-better-on-tests-and-avoid-scams","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/whats-your-chronotype-knowing-whether-youre-a-night-owl-or-an-early-bird-could-help-you-do-better-on-tests-and-avoid-scams\/","title":{"rendered":"What\u2019s your chronotype? Knowing whether you\u2019re a night owl or an early bird could help you do better on tests and avoid\u00a0scams"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Cindi May<\/a>, College of Charleston<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Timing is everything. For early risers and late-nighters alike, listening to your internal clock may be the key to success. From the classroom to the courtroom and beyond, people perform best on challenging tasks at a time of day that aligns with their circadian rhythm<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Circadian rhythms<\/a> are powerful internal timekeepers that drive a person\u2019s physiological and intellectual functioning throughout the day. Peaks in these circadian rhythms vary across individuals. Some people, known as larks or morning chronotypes, peak early and feel at their best in the morning. Others, known as owls or evening chronotypes, peak later in the day and perform best in the late afternoon or evening. And some people show neither morning nor evening preferences and are considered neutral chronotypes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As a researcher<\/a> seeking ways to improve cognitive function, I\u2019ve explored whether your chronotype affects your mental performance. Understanding the kinds of mental processes that vary \u2013 or remain stable \u2013 over the course of a day may help people schedule their tasks in a way that optimizes performance. https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/UbQ0RxQu2gM?wmode=transparent&start=0 Your brain has an internal clock that influences how your body functions over the course of a day.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Why your chronotype matters<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Chronotype can be measured with a simple questionnaire<\/a> that assesses things like your perceived alertness, preferred rising and retiring times and performance throughout the day. Even without a questionnaire, most people have a sense of whether they are a lark or an owl or fall somewhere in between. Do you wake up early, without an alarm, feeling sharp? Are you mentally drained and ready for pj\u2019s by nine? If so, you are likely a morning type. Do you sleep late and wake feeling sluggish and foggy? Are you more energized late at night? If so, you are likely an evening type.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

People perform best on many challenging mental tasks \u2013 from paying attention<\/a> and learning<\/a> to solving problems<\/a> and making complex decisions<\/a> \u2013 when these actions are synchronized with their personal circadian peaks. This is known as the synchrony effect<\/a>. Whether you are an air traffic controller scanning the radar, a CFO reviewing an earnings report or a high school student learning chemistry, synchrony can affect how well you perform.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Much of the evidence for synchrony effects comes from lab studies that test both larks and owls early in the morning and late in the day. People with strong chronotypes are more vigilant<\/a> and better able to sustain attention<\/a> at their peak relative to off-peak times. Their memories are sharper, with better list recall<\/a> and more success in remembering \u201cto-do\u201d tasks<\/a> like taking medication.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Hand<\/a>
When you feel the urge to hit snooze may tell you something about your circadian rhythm. eggeeggjiew\/iStock via Getty Images Plus<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

People are also less prone to mind wandering<\/a> and less distracted at their optimal time. For example, a study I conducted gave participants three weakly related cue words (such as \u201cship,\u201d \u201couter\u201d and \u201ccrawl\u201d). They were tasked to find another word that linked all three (such as \u201cspace\u201d). When my team and I presented misleading words alongside the cue words (such as \u201cocean\u201d for ship, \u201cinner\u201d for outer and \u201cbaby\u201d for crawl), those who were tested at synchronous times were better at ignoring the misleading words<\/a> and finding the target solution than those who weren\u2019t.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Synchrony also affects high-level cognitive functions like persuasion, reasoning and decision-making. Studies on consumers have found that people are more discerning<\/a>, skeptical<\/a> and analytical<\/a> at their peak times. They invest more time and effort<\/a> in assigned tasks and are more likely to search for important information<\/a>. Consequently, people make better investment decisions<\/a>, are less prone to bias<\/a> and are more likely to detect scams<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

At off-peak times it takes people longer to solve problems<\/a>, and they tend to be less careful<\/a> and more reliant on mental shortcuts<\/a>, leaving them vulnerable to flashy marketing schemes<\/a>. Even ethical behavior can be compromised at non-optimal times, as people are more likely to cheat<\/a> at their off-peak times.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the classroom and the clinic<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The basic mental abilities that are affected by synchrony \u2013 including attention, memory and analytical thinking \u2013 are all skills that contribute to academic success. This connection is especially significant for teens, who tend to be night owls<\/a> but typically start school early.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

One study randomly assigned over 700 adolescents to exam times in the early morning, late morning or afternoon. Owls had lower scores<\/a> relative to larks in both morning sessions, but this disadvantage disappeared for owls taking the exam in the afternoon. Early start times may put student owls a step behind larks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Time of day may also be a consideration when conducting assessments for cognitive disorders like attention-deficit disorder or Alzheimer\u2019s disease. Scheduling time may be particularly significant for older adults, who tend to be larks<\/a> and often show larger synchrony effects<\/a> than young adults. Performance is better at peak times on several key neuropsychological measures<\/a> used to assess these conditions. Failing to consider synchrony may affect the accuracy of diagnoses and subsequently have consequences for clinical trial eligibility and data on treatment effectiveness.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Person<\/a>
What time of day you take a cognitive test may influence your results. Violeta Stoimenova\/E+ via Getty Images<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Of course, synchrony doesn\u2019t affect performance on all tasks or for all people. Simple, easy tasks \u2013 like recognizing familiar faces or places, dialing a close friend\u2019s phone number or making a favorite recipe \u2013 are unlikely to change over the day. Furthermore, young adults who are neither larks nor owls<\/a> show less variability in performance over the day.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For those who are true early birds or night owls, tackling the toughest mental tasks at times that align with their personal circadian peaks could improve their outcomes. When small improvements in performance offer an essential edge, synchrony may be one secret to success.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Cindi May<\/a>, Professor of Psychology, College of Charleston<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

This article is republished from The Conversation<\/a> under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Cindi May, College of Charleston Timing is everything. For early risers and late-nighters alike, listening to your internal clock may be the key to success. From the classroom to the courtroom and beyond, people perform best on challenging tasks at a time of day that aligns with their circadian rhythm. Circadian rhythms are powerful internal […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":44,"featured_media":35458,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[42],"tags":[14794,14793,6751,6458,14792,3377,228,231,12921,11646],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35457"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/44"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=35457"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35457\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":35463,"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35457\/revisions\/35463"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/35458"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=35457"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=35457"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=35457"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}