Update on Empirical Test of Serial Diverse Imagining (The Cognitive Shuffle) at MacEwan University and Simon Fraser University

Prof. Digdon and her team, of the Psychology Department of MacEwan University (Edmonton Alberta), and Dr. Beaudoin (of Cognitive Science and of Education at Simon Fraser University, and of CogSci Apps Corp.) have recently completed a study of the effectiveness of the Serial Diverse Imagining (SDI) technique used by mySleepButton.

154 participants who complained of excessive pre-sleep mental activity were randomly assigned to receive one of three treatments: SDI, cognitive restructuring or both SDI and cognitive restructuring. SDI was administered using a version of mySleepButton designed exclusively for participants of scientific research on insomnia. This enabled a type of data on the use of imagery at sleep onset to be collected, by use of a smartphone, for the first time on the record of sleep research.

An abstract for a poster presentation about this research has been submitted to “SLEEP 2016”, the Thirtieth Annual Meeting of the Associated Professional Sleep Societies. Its title is:

Beaudoin, L. P., Digdon, N., O'Neill, K. & Racour, G.   (2015). Serial diverse imagining task: A new remedy for bedtime complaints of worrying and other sleep-disruptive mental activity. (Abstract submitted for publication).

We are very much looking forward to the Denver conference. Before speaking to the results, we await the peer review process and the publication of the abstract.

Meanwhile, Prof. Julie Carrier and Dr. Jessica Massicotte-Marquez, of the Université de Montréal, and Dr. Beaudoin are about to start the data collection phase of a new research test of Dr. Beaudoin’s 2013 theory of sleep onset and insomnia, comparing technology-assisted serial diverse imagining (cognitive shuffle) with another deliberate mentation strategy used in bed for interfering with insomnolent mentation. Both treatments will be administered using the CogSci Apps Corp. app, with data again being sent to a research server.

CogSci Apps Corp. is committed to supporting theoretical, empirical and applied research in cognitive science, developing new applications of cognitive science, testing such applications, and improving theory and applications in a scientific manner. CogSci Apps Corp. is committed to developing research-based tools that can be used by mental health professionals and by end users. Our affiliate, CogZest, of which Dr. Beaudoin is also president, publishes books that extend and apply cognitive science; it also provides cognitive productivity and well being training services.

Disclosure. Dr. Beaudoin is a shareholder of CogSci Apps Corp., the developers of mySleepButton. Data collected for scholarly studies are analyzed independently by researchers who do not have an interest in CogSci Apps Corp..