Do I need IRB approval to study myeslf? I am attempting to do my PhD "in the open", to treat the entire project of getting my degree (whose research is unrelatedly Computer Science), as a study. That is, I am going to collect my thought processes and outputs in an Open Notebook Science way. To legitimize this I am creating at Data Management Plan, and it asks if I need IRB approval?

On the one hand, it seems silly that I should need approval to study myself; but I am a human subject. Do people typically need approval to study themselves?
In general, single subject studies often do not require IRB review in the United States because they do not meet the federal definition of research (they are not "generalizable.") 

However, there are some exceptions to this rule. For example, a single subject oral history study or a single subject retrospective case study does not generally require IRB approval, but a single subject clinical study that involves collection of data that would not ordinarily be collected in the course of treatment does.

If you'd like to be sure, I suggest an email to your IRB.