Lark (person)

Image of a lark (Benjamin Franklin said "The early bird gets the worm".)

Lark is a term used to describe a person who usually gets up early in the morning and goes to bed early in the evening. Other terms are "morning person" and "early bird".

The lark (bird) is primarily diurnal, which explains the choice of the word "lark" for people who may sleep from around 10 p.m. to 6 a.m. Larks tend to feel most energetic just after they get up in the morning. They are thus well-suited for working the day shift.

The opposite of a lark is a night owl, someone who usually stays up late and may feel most awake in the evening.

In several countries, early birds (larks) are called "A-people" and night owls are called "B-people". Researchers traditionally use the terms morningness and eveningness.^[1]

Prevalence

Discussions and studies about the prevalence of morning, evening and indifferent or intermediate chronotypes use different criteria and come to different results. Some ask what time people do go to sleep and wake up—others ask what time people would prefer to. A survey of over 400 adults showed approximately 15% morning people, 25% evening people, and 60% intermediates.^[2]

See also

• Advanced sleep phase syndrome
• Chronotype
• Chronobiology
• Circadian rhythm sleep disorder
• FASPS

References

1. ^ Horne JA, Östberg O (1976). "A self-assessment questionnaire to determine morningness-eveningness in human circadian rhythms". Int J Chronobiol 4 (2): 97–110. PMID 1027738. 
2. ^ Schur, Carolyn (1994). "excerpt". Birds of a Different Feather. Saskatoon, Canada: Schur Goode Associates. ISBN 0969819005. http://www.nightowlnet.com/archive07.htm. Retrieved 2009-07-20. 

External links