As long as I can remember, I have always been a die-hard morning person. I cannot run very effectively on less than 7 hours of sleep, versus my night-owl friends in high school. I had this one friend throughout high school who would constantly run on no more than 2 hours of sleep, because she spent most of the night working on homework and studying. However, I had always wondered if this tactic was effective for intelligence, or just a complete waste of time. A study in, “The Week” discovered that, contrary to my previous belief, night people have higher IQ’s than morning people. However, the morning type tends to have a more hardworking personality trait (The Week Staff).
Logically, this seems to disprove the idea that procrastination and cramming for tests is the wrong way to study for tests. My parents had always taught me that in order to achieve good grades, I couldn’t leave all my studying for the night before. I had been brought up on the belief that if I don’t get enough sleep; I won’t perform effectively on any test. In this article, zoologist Robert Alison in the Winnipeg Free Press then goes on to announce that morning people tend to have lower IQ’s (The Week Staff). You might be wondering how this study can be true if morning people are well rested and able to concentrate efficiently? According to scientists from the London School of Economics, more intelligent humans initially started staying up later to get more work done. These people with higher IQ’s adapted to being more productive in their work by staying up all night to achieve their goal (The Week Staff).
Maybe the early bird doesn’t get the worm after all. Although in a 2008 study by Psychologist Marina Giamnietro, evidence showed that night owls tended to be more emotionally unstable, encounter more problems with eating disorders and addictions, and is less reliable than morning people. Yet, they still hold the fact that night owls have higher IQ’s than morning people (The Week Staff). This evidence begs the question that should have start staying up all night in order to become more intelligent?
The Week Staff. “Night Owls vs Morning People: Who’s Smarter.” The Week. Week, n.d. Web. 18 Sept.
2014. <http://theweek.com/article/index/209165/
night-owls-vs-morning-people-whos-smarter>.
I didn’t realize that people who stay up later received higher IQs. I thought that it was not a good thing for people to stay up all night, especially to study and do homework. But maybe it works for people who are more productive at night or feel like that they can get more done.
I’m wondering if the point they are arguing is that people who stay up later in general have higher IQ’s or only people who are doing productive things? It makes sense to be more intelligent if you’re spending more hours learning and/or studying material. But are people who are staying up on social networking sites testing IQ’s alike? Also, although I’m not positive that this is completely accurate, I have always held the belief that one’s IQ isn’t connected to how much basic information they know, but more so one’s ability to learn. If this is true, hours spent up studying would not affect IQ. Just some food for thought.
Maybe there is something in between! I would not consider myself a night owl or a morning dove. I can’t stay up too late because I cherish my eight hours of sleep or more. However, for me the mornings are dreadful. I am not the happiest person in the morning. Personally, I think that people need to find whatever works best for them. I’m surprised that night owls have higher IQ’s. My parents also always told me to never cram for tests, but I guess it works for some people! I do think that it is important to stick with one routine. It is unhealthy to wake up and go to bed at inconsistent times, so when you do find something that works for you-stick with it!