Goodnight book: sleep consolidation improves word learning via storybooks

Abstract

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.

When the daffodat flew to the intergalactic zoo: Off-line consolidation is critical for word learning from stories.

“…Consistent with previous research, the majority of children (aged 7-10 years) and adults were able to recognise a substantial proportion of the new words immediately after hearing the story (Dickinson, 1984;Elley, 1989;Penno et al, 2002;Robbins & Ehri, 1994;Senechal & Cornell, 1993;Wilkinson & Houston-Price, 2013), and their explicit phonological memory was enhanced after off-line consolidation (Wilkinson & Houston-Price, 2013;Williams & Horst, 2014). These data advance previous findings by…”

“…Moreover, new word form knowledge gained from story exposure is enhanced during daytime naps in preschool children (Williams & Horst, 2014). These findings align with the view that word learning is a prolonged process that depends upon off-line consolidation, particularly during sleep (Dumay & Gaskell, 2007;Henderson, Weighall, Brown & Gaskell, 2012;Tamminen et al, 2010).…”

“…Although previous studies have supported a role for consolidation when children learn new words from listening to stories (e.g., Senechal & Cornell, 1993;Wilkinson & Houston-Price, 2013;Williams & Horst, 2014) they have relied upon explicit measures of new word knowledge (e.g., recognition and recall).…”

Aprendizagem de substantivos e adjetivos por meio de leitura compartilhada para crianças com desenvolvimento típico e com Síndrome de Down

“…A aprendizagem de palavras a partir da leitura compartilhada de livro tem sido descrita por diversos pesquisadores (e. g. Horst et al, 2011;McLeod & McDade, 2011;Sim & Berthelsen, 2014;Walsh & Blewitt, 2006;Williams & Horst, 2014), que ressaltam a eficácia dessa prática para ensinar novas relações entre estímulos visuais e auditivos, verificadas, principalmente, em testes que avaliam a função de ouvinte (vocabulário receptivo), que se assemelham às sondas de emparelhamento ao modelo utilizadas no presente experimento.…”

“…Diversas pesquisas mostram que o contexto de leitura compartilhada de livros é eficiente no ensino de vocabulário para crianças (e. g. Horst, Parsons, & Bryan, 2011;McLeod & McDade, 2011;Sim & Berthelsen, 2014;Walsh & Blewitt, 2006;Williams & Horst, 2014 que possibilita maiores condições para a palavra ser aprendida (Horst, 2013).…”