Langer slapen is (niet) beter onthouden

This study focussed on the relationship between sleep duration, chronotype and short term memory and working memory in elementary school children between the ages of 9 and 11 years old (n = 606). Since sleep duration has a well-researched relationship with memory types and with chronotype, and chronotype influences sleep patterns and memory consolidation, the question arises if chronotype acts as a moderator in the relationship between sleep duration and short term memory or working memory. Parents of the children were asked to log the sleep duration of the children for an entire week. During this week, the CCTQ, a questionnaire about chronotype was completed. At the end of the week, a student researcher sat down with the participants to complete a version of the digit span subtest, normally used in the WISC-III and a word pairing test. Using ANOVA’s and moderation analysis it was found that chronotype does not moderate the relationship between sleep duration and either short term...Show moreThis study focussed on the relationship between sleep duration, chronotype and short term memory and working memory in elementary school children between the ages of 9 and 11 years old (n = 606). Since sleep duration has a well-researched relationship with memory types and with chronotype, and chronotype influences sleep patterns and memory consolidation, the question arises if chronotype acts as a moderator in the relationship between sleep duration and short term memory or working memory. Parents of the children were asked to log the sleep duration of the children for an entire week. During this week, the CCTQ, a questionnaire about chronotype was completed. At the end of the week, a student researcher sat down with the participants to complete a version of the digit span subtest, normally used in the WISC-III and a word pairing test. Using ANOVA’s and moderation analysis it was found that chronotype does not moderate the relationship between sleep duration and either short term memory or working memory. In contrast to popular belief, this study showed a negative relationship between sleep duration and both short term and the working memory. Additionally, it was found that children with a more evening focussed chronotype slept the shortest amount of time and scored significantly higher on short term memory tasks. An explanation for these results is given in the final section of the paper. At these ages, sleep is important for predicting learning capabilities, but not predominant at that. Parents could consider these results when contemplating about a sleep schedule fitted to their child’s needs.Show less

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Langer slapen is (niet) beter onthouden