Spiller Jayne, Gilmore Camilla
School of Psychology, University of Leicester, Leicester LE1 7RH, UK.
Centre for Mathematical Cognition, University of Loughborough, Loughborough, UK.
R Soc Open Sci. 2023 Sep 27;10(9):230663. doi: 10.1098/rsos.230663. eCollection 2023 Sep.
This study tested the hypothesis that learning complex multiplication problems (e.g. 8 × 23 = 184) prior to sleep would benefit recall in adult participants compared with learning the problems prior to a period of wakefulness. This study used a within-participant design where all participants learnt complex multiplication problems in two conditions separated by one week. In one condition, learning was before bed (sleep learning condition) and in the other condition learning was in the morning (wake learning condition). In each condition, recall was tested approximately 10.5 h later. Data were collected online from 77 participants. In the subset of the sample with greater than or equal to 60% accuracy at the initial learning session ( = 37), the sleep learning condition participants had better recall compared with the wake learning condition. This equated to a moderate effect size, Cohen's = 0.51. Regardless of initial levels of learning ( = 70) the same beneficial effect of sleep on recall was found with a small effect size, Cohen's = 0.33. This study has identified a beneficial effect of learning prior to sleep on recall of complex multiplication problems compared with learning these problems during the daytime. Future research should explore whether similar effects are observed with children learning simple multiplication facts.
与在清醒时段学习复杂乘法问题（如8×23 = 184）相比，成年参与者在睡前学习这些问题对记忆的回忆更有益。本研究采用了被试内设计，所有参与者在两种条件下学习复杂乘法问题，两种条件间隔一周。在一种条件下，学习在睡前进行（睡眠学习条件）；在另一种条件下，学习在早上进行（清醒学习条件）。在每种条件下，大约10.5小时后进行记忆回忆测试。数据通过在线方式从77名参与者处收集。在初始学习阶段准确率大于或等于60%的样本子集中（n = 37），与清醒学习条件相比，睡眠学习条件下的参与者有更好的记忆回忆。这相当于中等效应量，科恩d值 = 0.51。无论初始学习水平如何（n = 70），都发现睡眠对记忆回忆有相同的有益效果，效应量较小，科恩d值 = 0.33。本研究确定了与白天学习复杂乘法问题相比，睡前学习对这些问题记忆回忆的有益效果。未来的研究应探索儿童学习简单乘法口诀时是否也会观察到类似效果。
