After classes are finished for the day, the best way to start studying may be to take a nap. Maintaining focus and staying awake in the classroom is without a doubt, a challenge. So, when classes are finished for the day, why don’t more people simply go to sleep for a while? Well, there is a daunting reality that looms as a college student leaves his or her
final class of the day. The day is not over, the work is not finished, and the
stress levels do not trail off. For every hour in class, multiple hours of work
and study lie ahead. The reason that most students do not grab a quick nap to
relax is that it just does not seem like an effective use of the valuable time left in the day. However, research has recently shown that a short 60 to 90 minute nap can produce many of the benefits
that are achieved by a full night of sleep. Research on naps and their effects
on human learning was published in Nature Neuroscience by Sara Mednick et al in
the article “Sleep-dependent learning: a nap is as good as a night”.
Naps have proven to produce significant increases in learning and increase overall performance; it is important that
college students allot time in the mid afternoon for a nap in order to recharge and increase productivity during the second
half of a challenging day.
Research has shown that post-training sleep increases learning and improves perceptual skills. After studying, it is well known that a good night’s sleep will reinforce what was learned and allow
for maximum retention of the information. Mednick et al’s research on naps
has related naps to complete nights of sleep and demonstrated that many of the same benefits can be achieved from each. Sleep dependent learning can occur in 60 to 90 minute naps in the same way that is
does in a full night of sleep. Sleep occurs in two stages, the first of which
is “slow-wave sleep” (SWS), and the second known as, “rapid eye movement sleep” (REM). Naps containing both of these stages lead to excellent knowledge retention.
Different amounts of sleep are required for different activities; however, learning related to visual perceptive skills
is greatly increased by these short naps.
Following a nap, improvements are seen in alertness, productivity, mood, and restoration of perceptual deterioration. Learning in magnitude and quality is approximately the same after a 60 to 90 minute
nap as it is following 8 hours of sleep. Past research has focused mainly on
nights of sleep and not naps. Although naps do not serve as a sufficient substitute
for a night of sleep, they are an excellent supplement. Following class on a
typical day, it would prove highly beneficial to grab a quick nap before proceeding with the rest of one’s work. “Findings indicate that a 90-minute nap can produce as much improvement as a
night of sleep, and a nap followed by a night of sleep provides as much benefit as two nights of sleep.”(Mednick, 2003) A nap will allow for information learned in class to sink in and will also regenerate
and prepare a student for a productive evening.
The research described in the “Sleep-dependent learning: a nap is as good as a night” article involved
asking the subject to rapidly determine the orientation of an object that is surrounded by distractions. The greatest amount of improvement was seen in the first few minutes of practice. This improvement quickly slowed throughout the remainder of the day and throughout subsequent days. Too much testing over the course of a day led to deteriorated performance. This is similar to the way that a student reacts to work throughout the day. As the day goes on, performance and interest deteriorates. Mednick
et al’s research demonstrated that naps have the effect of stopping and even reversing this performance deterioration. The experiment tested the performance of three different groups of people using the
visual orientation test. The subjects were trained at 9:00AM, tested at 7:00PM,
and then retested at 9:00AM the next morning. All subjects slept an average of
seven and a half hours on the nights prior to both tests. The first group took
a 60 minute nap at 2:00PM on the first day, the second group took at 90 minute nap at 2:00PM, and the third group did not
take a nap. The group without a nap showed deterioration in the 7:00PM test. The 90 minute nap group showed significant improvement on the 7:00PM test, while the
60 minute nap group showed only slight improvement on the 7:00PM test. The importance
of the nap on performance later in the same day is clearly represented in this experiment.
When the data is examined further, the members of the 60 minute group that experienced REM in their nap improved greatly
while the members that only experienced SWS showed no improvement. This was also
seen in the 90 minute group. It was concluded that the SWS stage of sleep serves
to prevent deterioration, but it is the REM stage that initiates improvement. When
tested at 9:00AM the next morning, the no nap group showed the normal improvement after one night of sleep, while the 90 minute
group demonstrated much higher improvement, as did the 60 minute group. This
is evidence that a nap will improve learning and performance in the same way that a night of sleep will, and a nap combined
with a night of sleep is equivalent to two nights of sleep. Students that take
a nap in the afternoon are likely to experience an increase in academic performance and comfort levels.
Naps have significant importance in the life of a student. A nap in the
afternoon is strongly suggested and an ideal nap should last approximately 90 minutes.
It is important that while sleeping, the student experiences both SWS and REM stages of sleep to gain the full benefits
from the nap. After a hard day of classes is completed, it is important to take
some time to recuperate and get ready for the second challenging part of the day. A
nap will increase alertness, productivity, mood, and restoration of perceptual deterioration.
So, do you really not have time to nap?
Bibliography
Mednick, Sara. Sleep-dependent learning: a nap is
as good as a night. 22 June 2003. Nature
Neuroscience