Use the stages of sleep to learn more effectively
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Hi, English speakers who want to Learn French 🙂 !
In this article I share with you the fact of using the stages of sleep to learn more effectively.
Reactivating memory during the slow wave sleep (SWS) influences the consolidation of newly acquired knowledge. These reactivations occur spontaneously during sleep but can also be triggered by clues, this is the Targeted Reactivation Memory (TRM).
Does this technique can improve vocabulary learning ?
The recall performance for words with (auditory) cues during sleep versus non-cues during sleep are significantly influenced by the duration of the REM (Rapid Eye Movement) sleep. Participants with a significant duration of REM sleep show a significant benefit for the words with cues (auditory) versus without cues. While participants with little or no REM sleep have a significant effect in the opposite direction. The REM sleep after the SWS improves the consolidation of the memory, for example for new vocabulary.
- Reactivation during SWS allows to encode new information associated with already existing information, but these links can be disrupted.
- Presented the (auditory) cues during the REM sleep is beneficial to associate new information with adequate information already present.
Storage of the memory would benefit optimally from a cyclic succession of SWS and REM sleep.
The method
Word Learning Task and Post-Nap Test
For example: to associate the word dreep (an invented word) with a picture (example : an apple) and a sound semantically connected to this picture (the sound of someone who eats an apple).
1st phase : presented each sound-picture association to become familiar with.
2nd phase : in addition to the association sound-picture presentation of the word.
Instructions : to retain the association sound-picture.
3rd phase : quick recall task with gradual cues for each word. The picture is not presented, only the sound is presented.
Test phase after nap : similar procedure.
Sound-Cues version
The same general procedure.
The difference is : to learn the meaning of words rather than the writing of the word.
1st phase : auditively presented a word, example : clambil (an invented word)
2nd phase : word presented simultaneously with a picture and its transcription (example : a picture of an apple picture with the word Apple writing below).
Instructions : learn the association between the picture of the apple and the word clambil.
3rd phase : quick recall task with gradual cues for each word. The word recalled (example : apple is introduced gradually : A, Ap, App with a visual noise.
Test phase after nap: similar procedure.
Word-Cues version
The same general procedure.
The difference is : to learn the meaning of words rather than the writing of the word.
1st phase : auditively presented a word, example : clambil.
2nd phase : word presented simultaneously with a picture and its transcription (example a picture of an apple with Apple writing below).
Instructions : learn the association between the apple picture and the word clambil.
3rd phase : quick recall task with gradual cues for each word. The word recalled (example : apple is introduced gradually : A, Ap, App with a visual noise.
Test phase after nap: similar procedure.
Results
The influence of the TMR on the memory systematically varies with the duration of REM sleep.
Participants who achieved greater amounts of paradoxical sleep last part of the afternoon sleep period showed the expected benefit of memory for marked objects, while participants who achieved less paradoxical sleep showed the inverse model of results, with better precision for non-cues items. For certain types of learning such as vocabulary acquisition, reactivation the SWS may be unsuitable if it is not followed by REM sleep. Subsequent REM sleep may be required to stabilize and integrate reactivated memory traces into pre-existing networks.
Listen to podcasts/movies of your target language during sleep !
Here is the article
Batterink, L. J., Westerberg, C. E., & Paller, K. A. (2017). Vocabulary learning benefits from REM after slow-wave sleep. Neurobiology of learning and memory, 144, 102-113.
Thanks for reading this article 🙂
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Thomas Ricomard
Thomas Ricomard specializes in teaching French as a foreign language. He has been providing private lessons since 2015, both in-person and online (via Skype). He taught at the Popular University of the Canton of Geneva (Switzerland) from 2015 to 2018, instructing several groups of 20 students from around the world (United States, Canada, United Kingdom, Spain, Brazil, South Africa, Zimbabwe, Mexico, etc.), ranging from beginner to intermediate levels (A1 to B2). With a Master’s degree in clinical and cognitive psychology from the University of Geneva, his knowledge of psychology allows him to tailor his teaching methods for optimal learning, taking into account factors such as visual memory versus auditory memory. He expresses his passion for the French language through writing texts, including poetry and songs, which he presents publicly at numerous music and slam events.