Sleep Does not Help Relearning Declarative Memories in Older Adults

International audienceHow sleep affects memory in older adults is a critical topic, since age significantly impacts both sleep and memory. For declarative memory, previous research reports contradictory results, with some studies showing sleep-dependent memory consolidation and some other not. We hypothesize that this discrepancy may be due to the use of recall as the memory measure, a demanding task for older adults. The present paper focuses on the effect of sleep on relearning, a measure that proved useful to reveal subtle, implicit memory effects. Previous research in young adults showed that sleeping after learning was more beneficial to relearning the same Swahili-French word pairs 12 hours later, compared with the same interval spent awake. In particular, those words that could not be recalled were relearned faster when participants previously slept. The effect of sleep was also beneficial for retention after a one-week and a 6-month delay. The present study used the same experimental design in older adults aged 71 on average but showed no significant effect of sleep on consolidation, on relearning, or on long-term retention. Thus, even when using relearning speed as the memory measure, the consolidating effect of sleep in older adults was not demonstrated, in alignment with some previous findings

The benefit of retrieval practice over elaborative restudy in primary school vocabulary learning

The testing effect is the phenomenon that retrieval practice of learning material after studying enhanceslong-term retention more than restudying. We examined retrieval practice in primary school vocabularylearning in two experiments. Nine-year-old children studied word definitions and completed exercisesaccording to three learning conditions: pure restudy, elaborative restudy or retrieval practice. Children inthe pure restudy condition reread and partly copied the definitions. In the elaborative restudy conditionchildren reread the definitions and connected semantically related words to the target words. Childrenin the retrieval practice condition recalled the words based on their definitions. Overall, on the fill-in-the-blank test after one week children in the retrieval practice condition outperformed children in theother conditions, but on the multiple-choice test there were no differences. Retrieval practice may beeffective for primary school vocabulary learning, but there is uncertainty about the practical value andthe magnitude of the retrieval practice effect

The effect of distributed practice: Neuroscience, cognition, and education

International audienceEducation ideally should induce learning that lasts for years and more. A wealth of research indicates that, to achieve long-lasting retention, information must be practiced and/or tested repeatedly, with repeated practice well distributed over time. In this paper we discuss the behavioral, neuroimaging and neurophysiological findings related to the effect of distributed practice and testing as well as the resulting theoretical accounts. Distributed practice and testing appear to be powerful learning tools. We consider implications of these learning principles for educational practice

How Sleep Affects Relearning and Long-Term Retention: Age Matters

International audienceIn young adults, sleeping after learning has been shown to facilitate relearning and long-term retention, compared to staying awake (Mazza et al., in revision). Children (aged 8) and elderly people (aged 71) learned Swahili-French word pairs to criterion during a learning session taking place in the morning or evening (Wake and Sleep group, respectively). Participants spent 12 hours filled with wakefulness or a night of sleep, then performed a relearning session to criterion either in the evening (Wake) or the following morning (Sleep). One week later, retention was tested. Sleep appeared to affect memory differently according to age. The groups of children did not differ during the relearning session whereas the Sleep outperformed the Wake group after one week. In elderly participants, no effect of sleep was observed. Thus, the enhancing effect of sleep is most pronounced inadults, moderate in children, and weak in elderly people

How Sleep Affects Relearning and Long-Term Retention: Age Matters

International audienceIn young adults, sleeping after learning has been shown to facilitate relearning and long-term retention, compared to staying awake (Mazza et al., in revision). Children (aged 8) and elderly people (aged 71) learned Swahili-French word pairs to criterion during a learning session taking place in the morning or evening (Wake and Sleep group, respectively). Participants spent 12 hours filled with wakefulness or a night of sleep, then performed a relearning session to criterion either in the evening (Wake) or the following morning (Sleep). One week later, retention was tested. Sleep appeared to affect memory differently according to age. The groups of children did not differ during the relearning session whereas the Sleep outperformed the Wake group after one week. In elderly participants, no effect of sleep was observed. Thus, the enhancing effect of sleep is most pronounced inadults, moderate in children, and weak in elderly people

Sleep Does not Help Relearning Declarative Memories in Older Adults

International audienceHow sleep affects memory in older adults is a critical topic, since age significantly impacts both sleep and memory. For declarative memory, previous research reports contradictory results, with some studies showing sleep-dependent memory consolidation and some other not. We hypothesize that this discrepancy may be due to the use of recall as the memory measure, a demanding task for older adults. The present paper focuses on the effect of sleep on relearning, a measure that proved useful to reveal subtle, implicit memory effects. Previous research in young adults showed that sleeping after learning was more beneficial to relearning the same Swahili-French word pairs 12 hours later, compared with the same interval spent awake. In particular, those words that could not be recalled were relearned faster when participants previously slept. The effect of sleep was also beneficial for retention after a one-week and a 6-month delay. The present study used the same experimental design in older adults aged 71 on average but showed no significant effect of sleep on consolidation, on relearning, or on long-term retention. Thus, even when using relearning speed as the memory measure, the consolidating effect of sleep in older adults was not demonstrated, in alignment with some previous findings

Relearn Faster and Retain Longer: Along With Practice, Sleep Makes Perfect

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