Do Naps Still Matter: 4-Year-Olds and Word Learning

Abstract

The purpose of this study is to determine if there exists a relation between a child's napping status and performance in a word-learning task. In determining such a relation we can better understand the mechanisms that assist children with learning information allowing us to accordingly contribute to their success. To assess word learning we employed an object-context task where 34 children aged 48-53 months were trained on two labeled objects presented on colored fabric. During testing, these objects were simultaneously presented (on the same or a different fabric) and asked to identify the correct object. After applying a two-way ANOVA of sleep (no nap, nap) and context (same, different) on word learning performance, a significant main effect of nap on word learning performance was found, F(1, 30)= 6.53, p=.02. This finding is crucial as children this age are transitioning to fewer or no naps, which can impact their ability to learn new words.