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Goodnight book: sleep consolidation improves word learning via storybooks

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posted on 2023-06-08, 22:52 authored by Sophie E Williams, Jessica HorstJessica Horst
Reading the same storybooks repeatedly helps preschool children learn words. In addition, sleeping shortly after learning also facilitates memory consolidation and aids learning in older children and adults. The current study explored how sleep promotes word learning in preschool children using a shared storybook reading task. Children were either read the same story repeatedly or different stories and either napped after the stories or remained awake. Children's word retention were tested 2.5 h later, 24 h later, and 7 days later. Results demonstrate strong, persistent effects for both repeated readings and sleep consolidation on young children's word learning. A key finding is that children who read different stories before napping learned words as well as children who had the advantage of hearing the same story. In contrast, children who read different stories and remained awake never caught up to their peers on later word learning tests. Implications for educational practices are discussed.

History

Publication status

  • Published

File Version

  • Published version

Journal

Frontiers in Psychology

ISSN

1664-1078

Publisher

Frontiers

Volume

5

Article number

a184

Department affiliated with

  • Psychology Publications

Full text available

  • Yes

Peer reviewed?

  • Yes

Legacy Posted Date

2015-10-20

First Open Access (FOA) Date

2015-10-20

First Compliant Deposit (FCD) Date

2015-10-20

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