The long-term memory benefits of a daytime nap compared with cramming

Study Objectives: Daytime naps benefit long-term memory relative to taking a break and remaining awake. However, the use of naps as a practical way to improve learning has not been examined, in particular, how memory following a nap compares with spending the equivalent amount of time cramming. Meth...

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Main Authors: Look, Carol, Cousins, James N., Wong, Kian F., Raghunath, Bindiya Lakshmi, Chee, Michael W. L.
Other Authors: School of Social Sciences
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: 2019
Subjects:
Nap
Online Access:https://hdl.handle.net/10356/90328
http://hdl.handle.net/10220/49937
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Institution: Nanyang Technological University
Language: English
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spelling sg-ntu-dr.10356-903282020-03-07T13:00:26Z The long-term memory benefits of a daytime nap compared with cramming Look, Carol Cousins, James N. Wong, Kian F. Raghunath, Bindiya Lakshmi Chee, Michael W. L. School of Social Sciences Social sciences::Psychology Nap Memory Study Objectives: Daytime naps benefit long-term memory relative to taking a break and remaining awake. However, the use of naps as a practical way to improve learning has not been examined, in particular, how memory following a nap compares with spending the equivalent amount of time cramming. Methods: Young adults learned detailed factual knowledge in sessions that flanked 1 hr spent napping (n = 27), taking a break (n = 27), or cramming that information (n = 30). Recall was examined 30 min and 1 week after learning. Results: When tested 30 min after learning, cramming and napping led to significantly better memory than taking a break. After a week, napping maintained this significant advantage, but cramming did not. Conclusions: These findings demonstrate the longer-term benefits of napping for retention of memoranda akin to what students encounter daily and encourage more widespread adoption of napping in education. NRF (Natl Research Foundation, S’pore) NMRC (Natl Medical Research Council, S’pore) Published version 2019-09-16T06:27:20Z 2019-12-06T17:45:50Z 2019-09-16T06:27:20Z 2019-12-06T17:45:50Z 2018 Journal Article Cousins, J. N., Wong, K. F., Raghunath, B. L., Look, C., & Chee, M. W. L. (2019). The long-term memory benefits of a daytime nap compared with cramming. Sleep, 42(1), 1-7. doi:10.1093/sleep/zsy207 0161-8105 https://hdl.handle.net/10356/90328 http://hdl.handle.net/10220/49937 10.1093/sleep/zsy207 en Sleep © 2018 Sleep Research Society. Published by Oxford University Press [on behalf of the Sleep Research Society]. This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/), which permits non-commercial re-use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. For commercial re-use, please contact journals.permissions@oup.com. 7 p. application/pdf
institution Nanyang Technological University
building NTU Library
country Singapore
collection DR-NTU
language English
topic Social sciences::Psychology
Nap
Memory
spellingShingle Social sciences::Psychology
Nap
Memory
Look, Carol
Cousins, James N.
Wong, Kian F.
Raghunath, Bindiya Lakshmi
Chee, Michael W. L.
The long-term memory benefits of a daytime nap compared with cramming
description Study Objectives: Daytime naps benefit long-term memory relative to taking a break and remaining awake. However, the use of naps as a practical way to improve learning has not been examined, in particular, how memory following a nap compares with spending the equivalent amount of time cramming. Methods: Young adults learned detailed factual knowledge in sessions that flanked 1 hr spent napping (n = 27), taking a break (n = 27), or cramming that information (n = 30). Recall was examined 30 min and 1 week after learning. Results: When tested 30 min after learning, cramming and napping led to significantly better memory than taking a break. After a week, napping maintained this significant advantage, but cramming did not. Conclusions: These findings demonstrate the longer-term benefits of napping for retention of memoranda akin to what students encounter daily and encourage more widespread adoption of napping in education.
author2 School of Social Sciences
author_facet School of Social Sciences
Look, Carol
Cousins, James N.
Wong, Kian F.
Raghunath, Bindiya Lakshmi
Chee, Michael W. L.
format Article
author Look, Carol
Cousins, James N.
Wong, Kian F.
Raghunath, Bindiya Lakshmi
Chee, Michael W. L.
author_sort Look, Carol
title The long-term memory benefits of a daytime nap compared with cramming
title_short The long-term memory benefits of a daytime nap compared with cramming
title_full The long-term memory benefits of a daytime nap compared with cramming
title_fullStr The long-term memory benefits of a daytime nap compared with cramming
title_full_unstemmed The long-term memory benefits of a daytime nap compared with cramming
title_sort long-term memory benefits of a daytime nap compared with cramming
publishDate 2019
url https://hdl.handle.net/10356/90328
http://hdl.handle.net/10220/49937
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