The Logic of Sleep-Learning (Part 6)

One such statement goes on to say: "They are designed to help the man and woman in our society whose schedule is so exacting that little time is left for relaxation of study.

It is intended to assist the individual in his quest for inner tranquility and peace of mind. It is designed for the person who seeks to gain confidence in himself and in his love for life's adventures."

Parents, it appears, can be aided in raising their children by the use of recordings especially designed for them—recordings which will teach the children self-confidence, memory power, personality development, the desire to learn, the ability to read, obedience, unselfishness, neatness, good manners; recordings which will help cure them of bed-wetting, nail biting, fears and apprehensions, eating problems, stealing and lying.

"Your fingernails taste bitter. Your fingernails taste bitter," the recording repeats. Apparently many of the sleeping children become convinced, find their fingernails do taste bitter, and drop the habit. A California pediatrician reports success in as high as 70% of cases in the last twelve years where he has had parents talk to children with bed-wetting problems while they were asleep—and this after only two or three nights' repetition. Today's electronic equipment, of course, saves the lung power of the parent while achieving the same results.

Therapy combined with sleep has been reported effective in connection with special problems and social betterment. Dr. James Odell, Coordinator of Adjunctive Therapies at the Parsons, Kansas, training school, conducted an experiment with retarded and mentally disturbed children. He selected two young girls with an I.Q. of twenty-five and forty respectively, who had difficulty pronouncing the letter "R." He played a sleep-tape for them on which were various words containing the letter "R." This, combined with speech therapy sessions, resulted in the children using the letter "R" correctly after twenty-one days.

Adults whose problems have landed them in prison have voluntarily participated in a sleep-therapy experiment in the Woodlake Road Camp near Visalia, California, in Tulare County. The tape message is based on the belief that a desire for self-punishment is the main reason for crime, and is intended to overcome this desire.

A recording played at specific intervals during the night drones, "Sleep, sleep, you are now completely in sleep. Listen, my inner self. Remember and obey this creed of life. Live. Relax. Completely and utterly relax. Heal my soul. Unite my subconscious with my conscious life. Life is worth living, worth living wholeheartedly. Love rule my life. Love God, family, others. Do to others what I want them to do to me..."

Another report of this experiment substitutes "you" for the first person, and continues, "You shall have a major goal in life. You shall plan, carry out and attain that goal. You shall work and share with others. You shall grow in mind and spirit. You will attain self-respect and maturity because you are good . . . you will live without alcohol. Alcohol is poison. You do not need alcohol. You can abstain from alcohol. Alcohol is repulsive to you..."