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Words to Sleep On: Naps Facilitate Verb Generalization in Habitually and Nonhabitually Napping Preschoolers
Author(s) -
Sandoval Michelle,
Leclerc Julia A.,
Gómez Rebecca L.
Publication year - 2017
Publication title -
child development
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 3.103
H-Index - 257
eISSN - 1467-8624
pISSN - 0009-3920
DOI - 10.1111/cdev.12723
Subject(s) - nap , psychology , verb , generalization , wakefulness , developmental psychology , verbal learning , sleep (system call) , cognitive psychology , cognition , linguistics , electroencephalography , social psychology , mathematics , mathematical analysis , philosophy , neuroscience , computer science , operating system , psychiatry
A nap soon after encoding leads to better learning in infancy. However, whether napping plays the same role in preschoolers' learning is unclear. In Experiment 1 ( N = 39), 3‐year‐old habitual and nonhabitual nappers learned novel verbs before a nap or a period of wakefulness and received a generalization test examining word extension to novel actors after 24 hr. Only habitual and nonhabitual nappers who napped after learning generalized 24 hr later. In Experiment 2 ( N = 40), children learned the same verbs but were tested within 2–3 min of training. Here, habitual and nonhabitual nappers retained the mappings but did not generalize. The results suggest that naps consolidate weak learning that habitual and nonhabitual nappers would otherwise forget over periods of wakefulness.