The Review of Literature

Foreign Literature
Sleep Deprivation
According to the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, Sleep is

an important part of your daily routine—you spend about one-third of your time doing it.

Quality sleep – and getting enough of it at the right times -- is as essential to survival as

food and water. Without sleep you can’t form or maintain the pathways in your brain that

let you learn and create new memories, and it’s harder to concentrate and respond

quickly.

Sleep deprivation is a term meaning loss of sleep. Drummond and McKenna

(2009) stated that “sleep deprivation in humans can be broadly classified into three

categories: total sleep deprivation, partial sleep deprivation, and sleep fragmentation.”

In addition, being sleep-deprived affects both the brain and cognitive function.

Besides the many physical consequences of insufficient sleep, perhaps the most important

consequences of sleep deprivation are deficits in working memory and attention. It

appears that carrying out tasks that require attention is in direct correlation to the number

of hours the person sleeps each night; with these functions declining with the number

hours of sleep deprivation.

The quality of sleep that one receives depends on two factors, basal sleep and

sleep debt. Basal sleep is the amount of sleep a body needs on a regular basis for

optimum. Sleep debt is the accumulated sleep that is lost to poor sleep behaviors, illness,
environmental factors, or other causes. Sleep debt results in lowered sleep quality sleep

(National Sleep Foundation, 2014). It should be mentioned that sleep quality is just as

important as sleep quantity, but the two work concurrently. Although some people may

feel rested with a few hours of sleep per night, studies show that reduced hours of sleep is

associated with low performance on complex mental tasks. For college student’s

performance on complex tasks is important due to the critical thinking atmosphere

encouraged by the academic environment. Sleep deprived adults are not only affecting

their capacity for critical thinking, those who do not meet sleep requirements also have a

higher risk of mortality (Morgenthaler, 2014).

The optimal amount of sleep for a teenager is approximately nine hours (Noland

225; Epstein; School of Public Health 18). If a teenager sleeps less than nine hours then

they may experience sleep deprivation (Bergin 45; School of Public Health 18).

Therefore, a student’s academic ability, behavior, or physical potential can be affected by

sleep deprivation (Bergin 45; Black 34; Gibson, Powles, and Thabane 116; School of

Public Health 19). Hence, a student’s grades will drop if they continually miss sleep

(Black 35; Epstein; Noland 224). Sleep deprivation could also cause health problems by

increasing stress and obesity (Black 35; Epstein; Noland 224).

Insufficient sleep time is particularly common in undergraduate students. Pace-

Schott et al. (2009) found that the average sleep duration among university students has

drastically decreased over the last 30 years. Countless studies have been performed that

indicate bodily organs and systems are greatly affected by such sleep loss. Sleep
deprivation is a common problem in society and can have serious consequences on both

physical and mental health.

According to, Jane F. Gaultney PhD (2010), sleep patterns or disorders among

students may vary depending on one’s age and gender. It was reported that sleep

disorders in adults tend to increase with age, but they may also occur among students. In

terms of gender, she stated that females were at greater risk for RLS/PLMD, insomnia,

affective disorder, nightmares, and more likely to be at risk for at least one sleep disorder

than males.

Sleep Deprivation and Academic Performance

All students are required to maintain a satisfactory academic record and meet the

obligations.

Many studies in the past have shown that sleep deprivation does correlate with

poor academic performance because of lower abilities in cognition as a result of poor

sleep quality. In the study done by Gilbert and Weaver (2010), the two researchers found

that sleep loss interferes with a student’s academic, extracurricular and vocational

choices. They also found that the number of hours students sleep in a 24-hour period has

greatly decreased over the years while sleep dissatisfaction has increased.

On the contrary, Shot and Banks (2014) stated that an experiment failed to show

that sleep deprivation has a high impact on academic performance. Moreover, the sleep

deprived participants in the experiment did not possess cognitive skill deficits or poor
sustained attention. Hence, an individual’s subjective feelings of sleepiness and alertness

is not a reliable source in assessing one’s cognitive or behavioral impairments.

Local Literature

In a Philippine newspaper – The Philippine Daily Inquirer stated that Filipinos are

the most sleep-deprived people in Asia. According to their research sleep-deprivation in

the Philippines affects half of the population or close to 50 million Filipinos, who sleep

less than six hours a day.

Every student should have about eight to ten hours of sleep before taking and

examination to have a better performance and adding a nap in the afternoon will also help

improve your memory. The more we study the effects of sleep loss, the more we could

find the importance of a good sleep resulting to achieve better memory and improved

learning. Sleep loss means mind loss. It binds learning in many ways. It reduces critical

thinking, messes up memory and mood, retards reasoning, and shutters quantitative skills.

(Leonidas, 2012).

Academic performance refers to how students deal with their studies and how

they accomplish different tasks given to them by their teachers (Banquil et al, 2009). It

also refers on how students deal with their studies and how they cope with different

factors affecting their performance. Academic performance can also refer to “how well a

student meets standards set out by local government and the institution itself”.
 The quality of our sleep directly affects the quality of our waking life, including

our productivity, emotional balance, creativity, physical vitality and even our weight.

Therefore, sleep is an essential human need and not a luxury, because it is in the state of

rest that our brain oversees the great work of biological maintenance to keep our bodies

in good condition. Mild sleep deprivation does not cause serious impairment but chronic

sleep deprivation does.

RELATED STUDIES

Foreign Studies

According to School of Public Health studies, 70% to 83% of students do not

obtain the optimal level of sleep. Due in caffeinated beverages and leisure time activities

it led to students staying up to late part of students staying up late doing homework and

studying.

The Brain

Sleep deprivation adversely affects the brain and cognitive function. A study

completed by the Veterans Affairs Healthcare System in San Diego and the UCSD

School of Medicine monitored activity in the brains of sleep-deprived people whilst they

performed basic verbal learning tasks by using functional magnetic resonance imaging
(FMRI). The results of the study showed that, in sleepier subjects, more activity was

found in certain areas of the prefrontal cortex of the brain: The prefrontal cortex is an

area of the brain that supports such mental faculties as logical and practical (‘means-

ends’) reasoning and working memory. These results were interpreted by the researchers

as indicating that, in order to complete a specific task, the average non-sleep-deprived

subject’s brain needed to exert a lot more effort than the brain of an average non-sleep

deprived person. They were able to infer from these results that the brains of sleep-

deprived people were trying to compensate for the adverse effects created by sleep

deprivation.

Memory and Cognitive Impairment

Similar studies have been done to assess stress as a consequence of sleep

deprivation. A study conducted at James Madison University worked with 124 college

students, and results from the research revealed that over 50 percent of the students

reported high levels of stress that was related to academic workload and time

management, which was linked to unhealthy behaviors such as decreased quantity of

sleep (Britz & Pappas, 2014).

Sleep Deprivation on the Academic Performance

A study implemented with college students showed that 33% of sleep deprived

students took longer than 30 minutes to fall asleep, and 43% of the students studied also

reported prematurely waking up more than once on a nightly basis (Forquer et al, 2008).

Some people may have the belief that college students have different sleep hygiene

depending on their class standing and majors. Although it may be true that some majors
have different amount of work load, Forquer et al. (2008) found that there are no

differences between freshman, sophomores, juniors, seniors, and graduate students for the

time to fall asleep, number of premature waking per night, and total hours of sleep per

night.

Sleep loss results in the loss of concentration, and increased sleepiness during the

day. College students who are struggling with excessive sleep loss are increasing those

symptoms and affecting their ability to perform well in school.

Synthesis

In the study done by Gilbert and Weaver (2010), the two researchers found that

sleep loss interferes with student’s academic performance. The past study is particularly

related to the present study since they identified the effect of sleep deprivation on the

academic performance. Their study which is distinctly relative to the present study, cited

that sleep deprived individuals also have difficulty in retrieving words and delivering

them which affects their communication, these effects due to a lack of sleep are all vital

skills needed not only for survival but also for learning process; in order to obtain the

most out of education, it is imperative to have proper functioning of cognitive skills,

memory, attention, concentration, and alertness. However, all of these skills are affected

by lack of sleep.

Moreover, Soliven (2016) stated that the quality of sleep directly affects the

quality of productivity, emotional balance, creativity, and physical vitality, as same to

what the present study also aims to point out. Likewise, the findings discoursed by the

researches have aided the present researchers define their goal in conducting the study.
 On the other side, Shot and Banks (2014) stated that an experiment failed to show

that sleep deprivation has a high impact on academic performance. The experiment

showed that the sleep deprived participants in the experiment did not possess cognitive

skill deficits or poor sustained attention. Hence, an individual’s subjective feelings of

sleepiness and alertness is not a reliable source in assessing one’s cognitive or behavioral

impairments.

Chapter 2
METHODOLOGY

Research Design
This study will utilize the descriptive and correlational type of research. It

addresses the "how" question.

 The method used in the study is the survey method. With the survey method, the

participants will be answering questions administered through survey-questionnaires.

After the participants answered the questions, researchers will describe the responses

given.

The study is quantitative in nature; therefore, the research questions will be

answered by numerical data. Correlational design was used in establishing this study

since it is a quantitative method of research in which the researchers have 2 or more

variables and are trying to determine if there is a relationship between the present

variables (Waters, 2017).

Sources of Data

The study will be conducted in Don Mariano Marcos Memorial State University-

South La Union Campus. The respondents will be selected using the random sampling

technique among the students.

On the other hand, secondary data used in the study will be gathered from internet

sources and books.

This study is limited to the selected Psychology students enrolled in Don Mariano

Marcos Memorial State University-South La Union Campus of the is only for the

academic year 2021-2022.

The scope of the research study is the impact of sleep deprivation on the academic

performance. It also aims to know if sleep deprivation has a significant impact on the

performance of a student in terms of academic.

 The study does not include any other matter regarding sleeping deprivation that is

not related to the academic performance of the students. This study is only for the

students in Don Mariano Marcos Memorial State University-South La Union Campus, for

the result may vary depending in the university.

Instrumentation and Data Collection

The researcher will gather the primary data by conducting a survey among

selected 1st Year BS Psychology students of Don Mariano Marcos Memorial State

University- South La Union Campus, Agoo, La Union. Questionnaire concerning the

effect of sleep deprivation towards the academic performance will be distributed.

Researchers will use the survey questionnaire in gathering data. In choosing this,

the research creates 15 – item survey-questionnaire answerable by Strongly Agree (5),

Slightly Agree (4), Neither Agree nor Disagree (3), Slightly Disagree (2), and Strongly

Disagree (1).

The survey-questionnaire will be answered by selected 1st Year BS Psychology

students of Don Mariano Marcos Memorial State University- South La Union Campus,

Agoo, La Union and aimed to determine the effect of sleep deprivation in their academic

performance.

Analysis of Data
 The study will employ a quantitative data analysis procedure where descriptive

statistic frequency will be used. Gathered information will be analyzed through tables and

figures to summarize data which is an organized tabulation of the number of individuals

and scores located under each categories of frequency distribution. From the table, results

will be reported from the surveyed students being sleep deprived and the effects

encountered with the said situation.

A 15– item questionnaire will be given to the selected 1st Year BS Psychology

students of Don Mariano Marcos Memorial State University- South La Union Campus,

Agoo, La Union. Each of the answers from the different questions will correspond to a

certain interpretation.

The following tables will be used as a basis on to interpret and analyze the data gathered:

Table 1. Scale of Sleep Deprivation Experiences

Rating Scale Adjectival Scale Main Interval Scale Verbal

Interpretation

1 Strongly Disagree – 1.75 Never experienced

2 Disagree 1.76 – 2.50 Rarely

experienced

3 Neither agree or 2.51 – 3.25 Slightly

 disagree experienced

4 Agree 3.26 – 4.00 Moderately

experienced

5 Strongly Agree 4.01 – 5.00 Always

experienced

Based from the Mean Interval Scale, data results can be interpreted as:

Never experienced. The participant has not encountered having negative effects

on his/her cognitive skills, mood and/or motor due to being sleep deprived, therefore, the

participant has not experienced any of them at all.

Rarely experienced. The participant has infrequently encountered having

negative effects on his/her cognitive skills, mood and/or motor due to being sleep

deprived, in other words, the participant seldom experiences it.

Slightly experienced. The participant has sometimes but not often encountered

having negative effects on his/her cognitive skills, mood and/or motor due to being sleep

deprived, hence, the participant experiences it once in a while.

Moderately experienced. The participant has frequently encountered having

negative effects on his/her cognitive skills, mood and/or motor due to being sleep

deprived, in other words, the participant repeatedly experiences it in numerous occasions.

 Always experienced. The participant has constantly encountered having negative

effects on his/her cognitive skills, mood and/or motor due to being sleep deprived.

Table 2. Scale of respondents’ GPA

Rating Scale Adjectival Scale Main Interval Scale Verbal

Interpretation

90-99 High – 1.75 Rarely affected

80-89 Average 1.76 – 2.50 Normally affected

70-79 Low Average 2.51 – 3.25 Moderately affected

60-69 Low 3.26 – 4.00 Strongly affected

Based from the Mean Interval Scale, data results can be interpreted as:

Rarely affected. The participant experiences sleep deprivation but still has a

high GWA, therefore, his/her GWA is seldom affected of sleep deprivation.

Normally affected. The participant experiences sleep deprivation but still has an

average GWA, therefore, his/her GWA is averagely affected of sleep deprivation.

Moderately affected. The participant experiences sleep deprivation but still has

a low average GWA, therefore, his/her GWA is frequently affected of sleep deprivation.

Strongly affected. The participant experiences sleep deprivation but still has a

low GWA, therefore, his/her GWA is affected of sleep deprivation.