Pre-experimental sleep effects on directed forgetting

Victoria A J Kavanagh; Kathleen L Hourihan

doi:10.1016/j.concog.2020.102898

Pre-experimental sleep effects on directed forgetting

Conscious Cogn. 2020 Mar:79:102898. doi: 10.1016/j.concog.2020.102898. Epub 2020 Feb 12.

Authors

Victoria A J Kavanagh¹, Kathleen L Hourihan²

Affiliations

¹ Psychology Department, Memorial University of Newfoundland, 232 Elizabeth Ave, St. John's, NL A1B 3X9, Canada. Electronic address: vajk87@mun.ca.
² Psychology Department, Memorial University of Newfoundland, 232 Elizabeth Ave, St. John's, NL A1B 3X9, Canada.

PMID: 32058921
DOI: 10.1016/j.concog.2020.102898

Abstract

A directed forgetting (DF) paradigm was used to compare the remembering and forgetting of participants with good sleep quality to those with poor sleep quality and the presence of insomnia symptoms. This study implemented a point system in place of remember and forget instructions in a DF task with the goal of computing DF costs and benefits. Relations among memory, sleep, and working memory capacity (WMC) were also examined. DF benefits were observed in both groups, with negative costs found for participants without the presence of insomnia symptoms. WMC was found to be related to memory for positive point items only, and did not differ based on sleep quality. These results suggest that the presence of self-reported insomnia symptoms does not affect performance on a DF task.

Keywords: Directed forgetting; Insomnia; Sleep quality; Working memory capacity.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

Adolescent
Adult
Female
Humans
Male
Memory, Short-Term / physiology*
Mental Recall / physiology*
Sleep / physiology*
Sleep Initiation and Maintenance Disorders / physiopathology*
Young Adult