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Relational Memory: A Daytime Nap Facilitates the Abstraction of General Concepts

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  • Hiuyan Lau
  • Sara E Alger
  • William Fishbein

Abstract

It is increasingly evident that sleep strengthens memory. However, it is not clear whether sleep promotes relational memory, resultant of the integration of disparate memory traces into memory networks linked by commonalities. The present study investigates the effect of a daytime nap, immediately after learning or after a delay, on a relational memory task that requires abstraction of general concept from separately learned items. Specifically, participants learned English meanings of Chinese characters with overlapping semantic components called radicals. They were later tested on new characters sharing the same radicals and on explicitly stating the general concepts represented by the radicals. Regardless of whether the nap occurred immediately after learning or after a delay, the nap participants performed better on both tasks. The results suggest that sleep – even as brief as a nap – facilitates the reorganization of discrete memory traces into flexible relational memory networks.

Suggested Citation

  • Hiuyan Lau & Sara E Alger & William Fishbein, 2011. "Relational Memory: A Daytime Nap Facilitates the Abstraction of General Concepts," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 6(11), pages 1-6, November.
    • Handle: RePEc:plo:pone00:0027139
    DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0027139
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Ullrich Wagner & Steffen Gais & Hilde Haider & Rolf Verleger & Jan Born, 2004. "Sleep inspires insight," Nature, Nature, vol. 427(6972), pages 352-355, January.
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    Cited by:

    1. Kosha J. Mehta, 2022. "Effect of sleep and mood on academic performance—at interface of physiology, psychology, and education," Palgrave Communications, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 9(1), pages 1-13, December.
    2. Frédéric Dutheil & Benjamin Danini & Reza Bagheri & Maria Livia Fantini & Bruno Pereira & Farès Moustafa & Marion Trousselard & Valentin Navel, 2021. "Effects of a Short Daytime Nap on the Cognitive Performance: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(19), pages 1-17, September.

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