Sleep supports the consolidation of newly learned statistical concepts

John J Shaw, Marie-Josee Bisson

Research output: Contribution to journalArticle (journal)peer-review

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Abstract

Within mathematical cognition the development of conceptual knowledge is seen as critical to developing understanding. Sleep has been well established to play a role in the consolidation of newly learned information and schema-based information but has yet to be explored within mathematical cognition. Across three experiments participants (N = 167) were assigned to a sleep or wake group and then viewed lectures on either p-values, t-test, or z-scores. The sleep group watched the lecture at 9pm, completed an immediate recall task to explain the concept, then a second recall task 12h later at 9am. The wake groups watched the lecture at 9am, and completed an immediate recall task then a second recall task 12h later at 9pm. Written responses were then assessed using a comparative judgement task by subject experts. Across all three experiments, results showed that participants in the sleep group retained their knowledge from the immediate recall to 12 hours later, while in the wake group, participants’ knowledge declined significantly between sessions. These results suggest that sleep may be involved in an important process of maintaining the information learned from statistical concepts.
Original languageEnglish
Number of pages49
JournalQuarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology
Early online date23 Jan 2025
DOIs
Publication statusE-pub ahead of print - 23 Jan 2025

Keywords

  • Sleep
  • Numerical Cognition
  • Memory
  • Comparative Judgement

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