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Towards an affective information-processing theory of sleep onset and insomnia

Date created
2010-01-10
Authors/Contributors
Abstract
We develop a cognitive-affective theory of sleep onset and insomnia (Beaudoin, 2013, 2014). This somnolent information processing theory is design-based (Artificial Intelligence-inspired). We argue that the two-process model of sleep (Borbély, 1982, 2016) is necessary, but insufficient because it ignores pro-somnolent and insomnolent factors, including affective ones. We argue that the phylogenesis of the human sleep-onset control system (SOCS) faced the design challenge of integrating information from deliberative and reflective (executive) processes and various types of emotion. The core SOCS being evolutionarily ancient and modular, it cannot decode executive information; and executive processes couldn’t fully control lower sleep onset mechanisms. Yet some mutual indirect interactions were required. Our theory extends and applies the H-CogAff theory of emotions (Sloman, 2003, 2008), while adding sleep onset control mechanisms. We propose that the human SOCS is coarsely sensitive to primary emotions (based on alarms), secondary emotions (involving deliberative, motive management processes), tertiary emotions (perturbance, involving reflective, meta-management processes), moods (Thayer, 2003), interrupt filtering, attributes of motivators currently being managed or suppressed (Beaudoin, 1994), sense-making, and other processes, all of which operate in parallel with each other. Insomnia often involves perturbance, a loss of control of attention.We will use limerence (Tennov, 1979) and grief (Wright, Sloman, Beaudoin, 1996) as examples of perturbant emotions and other affects that can disrupt sleep. We will discuss how new information processing treatments for insomnia that can be supported by mobile apps like mySleepButton®, such as serial diverse imagining (a form of cognitive shuffling, Beaudoin, Digdon, O’Neill, & Racour, 2016), personalized body scans, massage and other treatments might differentially affect the somnolent mechanisms we propose. We will present some of the new questions, from empirical and designer perspectives, that our theory raises about affect, mental architecture, sleep-onset and insomnia.
Description
This abstract is the totality of the paper. There is no fulltext available beyond the abstract.
Published as
Beaudoin, L. P., Hyniewska, Sylwia, & Bastien, C. (2017). Towards an affective information-processing theory of sleep onset and insomnia. (Paper to be presented at ISRE-2017).
Publication details
Document title
Towards an affective information-processing theory of sleep onset and insomnia
Date
2017
Copyright statement
Copyright is held by the author(s).
Permissions
You are free to copy, distribute and transmit this work under the following conditions: You must give attribution to the work (but not in any way that suggests that the author endorses you or your use of the work); You may not use this work for commercial purposes.
Scholarly level
Peer reviewed?
Yes
Language
English
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