History Main / SleepLearning

* The ''WebAnimation/HomestarRunner'' cartoon "A Jorb Well Done" slightly subverts this. When Coach Z's inability to pronounce the word "job" becomes a major sticking point, the other characters try everything from elementary school to [[Literature/AClockworkOrange Ludovico's Technique]] to get him to say "job" without adding a few extra consonants and vowels (and sometimes entire syllables). Finally, Strong Sad suggests a SleepLearning technique consisting of a tape he made of himself reciting the word "job" over and over from when he was "practicing the dictionary". Coach Z listens to the tape while he sleeps, and the next morning Homestar is pleasantly surprised to find that Coach Z can say "job" with no problem - but ''now'' [[HereWeGoAgain he can't remember how to pronounce "Homestar"!]] ("You did a great... job, Hamstray. No, wait, I mean Hamster! I mean Strumstar. I mean Stairmaster. Homegrown! Ramrod? Humphel?!")

** Ironically, the correct way of referring to a cheese omelette in French would probably be omelette ''au'' fromage. "Omelette du fromage" would translate to "cheese's omelette"

* An experiment in unconscious learning in ''Series/ThePrisoner'' was a cover for rather more unwholesome experimentation. Of course, in ''Series/ThePrisoner'' they can see your dreams through the lamp over your bed.

* ''Series/{{Friends}}'': Chandler borrows a tape to help him quit smoking, which unfortunately offers such encouragement as "You are a strong, confident woman who does not need to smoke". He then spends the rest of the episode behaving in a very effeminate manner, in one of the show's more dim-witted subplots.

* ''TalesOfSymphoniaDawnOfTheNewWorld'': Apparently, this is one of Tenebrae's seven hidden talents. Neither Emil nor Marta find it useful, however.

* One episode of ''RoundTheTwist'' has Bronson helping Pete to cram for an exam by reading the textbook to him at midnight. Then Bronson begins reading a superhero comic aloud, causing Pete to become convinced he's a superhero. HilarityEnsues.

* The ''WaysideSchool'' books has one student, a HeavySleeper, never being disturbed by the others on Mrs. Jewls's insistence that she's sleep-learning. At least one tie-in book hints this may be right.

* A king in the ''Literature/{{Discworld}}'' tried to do this and asked a philosopher if he could find an easy way for the King to learn things. The philosopher replies there is no easy way to knowledge, to which the King says he bloody well better find a way or else. Cue slaves whispering in his ear as he sleeps. Unfortunately the third one stuck a dagger in it but, "the theory was sound".

->''Haven't you learned ''anything'' in bed?''
-->--'''Dean Venture''', ''WesternAnimation/TheVentureBrothers''

* ''The War With Mr. Wizzle'', the children's novel by Creator/GordonKorman. The girl students try to change the behaviour of teacher Gloria Peabody by playing tapes telling her to be nice while she sleeps. Unfortunately they just make Peabody even crankier because she's not sleeping properly.

* ''Franchise/{{Batman}}'': Jean Paul Valley's father used SleepLearning learning to make him into ComicBook/{{Azrael}}, a {{badass}} angel of vengeance. He was a bookish computer geek, but when triggered, could go up against Batman, whom he briefly [[AntiHeroSubstitute replaced]]. Not bad for listening to a tape in your sleep.

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* Used as the main plot point in an episode of ''WesternAnimation/Kid vs. Kat'' where Coop uses a self-help tape to boost his confidence. Mr. Kat then replaces the tape with one designed to make him pessimistic, and when it works uses the same method to turn Coop's father into his servant. When Coop discovers Kat's plan, he again uses a tape to make himself a 'tough guy', which nearly ends badly for him family and friend.

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* This trope has come up various times in ArchieComics. In one story, [[DumbMuscle Moose]] complains that he tried it and still failed his test. Archie then shows that Moose had his tape playing ''[[EpicFail backwards!]]''

** This trope also led to a Dream Arc regarding the Odyssey (Peter tried to invoke the trope regarding the Odyssey), and somehow ended up dragging Jason into the dream. The ending of the dream has him discovering that Quincy was playing the role of Penelope, a discovery that was strongly implied to have resulted in him waking up earlier than usual out of disgust.

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* ''WesternAnimation/GarfieldAndFriends'' show 58 has Jon Arbuckle preparing for a pitch to a publisher (his little-seen job is as a cartoonist). The publisher doesn't like Jon's nail-biting habit, so Jon tries using a sleep-learning record to cure himself. Garfield and Odie destroy the record by accident and replace it with cartoon sound effects, a Spanish-language tutoring record, and a "Hits of the 1950s" collection. At the meeting, all Jon can produce is "Hola, Paco, ¿Qué tal?", doo-wop music, and machine-gun noises. As it turns out, the publisher is a Mexican immigrant, named Paco, who likes doo-wop, and the sound effects match Jon's submission very well. Unfortunately, he still hasn't cured his nail-biting habit, and Jon doesn't get published.

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** In ''Citizen of the Galaxy'', Thorby is programmed with a message by means of hypnosis and a "sleep instructor".

* ''The War With Mr. Wizzle'', the children's novel by GordonKorman. The girl students try to change the behaviour of teacher Gloria Peabody by playing tapes telling her to be nice while she sleeps. Unfortunately they just make Peabody even crankier because she's not sleeping properly.

A character tries to use hypnopædia, aka sleep learning, to crash study for an important upcoming event; a test, a meeting with his boss, something. The technology fails on him, possibly due to outside interference. What he ends up with is a bit of brainwashing. The record got stuck, and repeated one phrase over and over, or the programs were crossed up. In a twist, the random tics the character exhibits as a result end up falling in the exact right places, leading to a sort of Clouseauesque success... at least temporarily.

* ''WesternAnimation/DextersLaboratory'', "The Big Cheese": Dexter tries to cram for a French test at school, but his recording skips, and when he wakes up in the morning all he is able to say is "omelette du fromage". The only question on the test, luckily, is to translate the phrase "cheese omelette". In fact, "omelette du fromage" is the phrase needed for every situation Dex faces for the rest of the cartoon, including solving the Mid-East crisis. His only obstacle? The password needed to enter the lab is "StarWars", so the lab's voice-activated vault door bars his re-entry.

* An episode of ''BoyMeetsWorld'' had Eric Matthews learn to skate by listening to a dieting tape that his friend had dubbed over. Naturally, not all of the original audio was removed, leading him to freak out over, and then run away from, unhealthy food at the end of the episode. In the middle of a date.
* ''{{Friends}}'': Chandler borrows a tape to help him quit smoking, which unfortunately offers such encouragement as "You are a strong, confident woman who does not need to smoke". He then spends the rest of the episode behaving in a very effeminate manner, in one of the show's more dim-witted subplots.

* One ''PearlsBeforeSwine'' story arc revolved around one of the crocs unknowingly becoming a master at ''Jeopardy'' because he kept falling asleep while watching the show.
* One Sunday {{Peanuts}} strip had Linus describing to Lucy how putting a ''book'' under his pillow will let the learning enter his head by osmosis. "While I'm asleep, the answers will seep up through the pillow and into my head." The last panel is a shot of his worried face as he says "...I hope!"

* Tape in Creator/CJCherryh's Union/Alliance books is SleepLearning with hypnotic drugs and computer feedback. Citizens use it to learn skills; it is used on azi for almost the entire programming of their minds.

* This is how kids were taught on SilverAge [[Franchise/{{Superman}} Krypton]]. Maybe it works better on the Kryptonian mind.