The question
Name: ______________________ Date: ____________ Does losing sleep harm learning? (7 points)
Study
Source 1: Sleep after learning
Introduction
Researchers tested whether a night of sleep after learning helps people keep what they learned.
Participants
48 university students aged 18 to 22 in one US city, who reported no sleep problems. All gave informed consent and were paid.
Method
At 9 p.m. every student studied 40 pairs of unrelated words (such as "river - candle") until they could recall at least 34. Students were randomly assigned to sleep normally in the lab (sleep group) or to stay awake all night under supervision (sleep-deprived group). Both groups then had a normal night of sleep the next night. Three days after learning, all students saw the first word of each pair and wrote the second.
Results
The sleep group recalled an average of 31 of 40 pairs; the sleep-deprived group recalled an average of 24. A difference this large would be very unlikely if sleep made no difference.
Invented study for practice.
Study
Source 2: Sleep and school grades
Introduction
Researchers asked whether high school students who sleep more on school nights earn higher grades.
Participants
600 students in grades 9 to 12 at four public high schools in one US state. Parents gave permission and students agreed to take part.
Method
Students wore a sleep tracker for four school weeks, giving their average sleep on school nights. Their end-of-term grade averages (on a 0 to 4 scale) came from school records with names removed.
Results
Students who slept more had higher grades. Students who averaged under 6 hours had an average grade of 2.6; 6 to 8 hours, 3.0; more than 8 hours, 3.3. The correlation between hours of sleep and grades was .
Invented study for practice.
Study
Source 3: Short nights and learning new material
Introduction
Researchers asked whether several short nights make it harder to take in new material the next day.
Participants
40 high school students aged 15 to 17 at a two-week summer program at a boarding school. Parents gave permission and each student agreed to take part.
Method
Students were randomly assigned to 9 hours in bed or 5 hours in bed each night for five nights. Each afternoon they watched a 20-minute science lesson and then took a 20-question quiz on it. They also did a reaction-time task in which they pressed a key when a dot appeared; lapses were responses slower than half a second.
Results
By the fifth day, the 9-hour group averaged 15 of 20 on the quiz and the 5-hour group 11 of 20. The 5-hour group had about three times as many attention lapses. Their quiz scores were lowest on the days they had the most lapses.
Invented study for practice.
| Group | Quiz score (of 20) | Attention lapses |
|---|---|---|
| 9 hours in bed | 15 | 4 |
| 5 hours in bed | 11 | 13 |
(A) Propose a specific and defensible claim based in psychological science that responds to the question. [1 point]
(B(i)) Support your claim using at least one piece of specific and relevant evidence from one of the sources. [1 point]
(B(ii)) Explain how the evidence from B(i) supports your claim using a psychological perspective, theory, concept or research finding learned in AP® Psychology. [2 points]
(C(i)) Support your claim using a different piece of specific and relevant evidence from another source. [1 point]
(C(ii)) Explain how the evidence from C(i) supports your claim using a different psychological perspective, theory, concept or research finding than you used in B(ii). [2 points]