ABSTRACT

EFFECT OF CONDITIONS OF SLEEP ON MEMORY RECALLING

BY

CHONG XIN XIN

JANUARY 2010

Supervisor: CHAI MING SING, Ph.D

This research examined the role of sleep sufficiency on the memory processing

process (recalling). 40 college students participated in two sections of the experiment.

The two sections were differentiated by subjects’ conditions of sleep, which was

sufficient and insufficient. Subjects were required to remember a list of words followed

by recalling the words in each section of experiment. The result showed a significant

difference, t(39) = 2.117, p = .041 that supported Hypothesis 1, that is people with

sufficient sleep have better ability to recall than people with insufficient sleep. This

finding contributes supportive evident to the researches that claimed sleep before learning

is critical for memory formation.

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 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

First of all, the author would like to thank Dr. Cecilia Chai Ming Sing for her

supervising that ensures the work will go on schedule. Besides, her guidance, insightful

and helpful comments made the author able to accomplish this project in a meaningful

way. The author similarly appreciates Ms Fong Wai Shan and all other lectures for their

guiding and being supportive.

Thanks to all the participants for their contributions to the success of this project.

Thanks also go to author’s fellow classmates for their thoughtful and helpful supporting

throughout the process of this project.

Finally, I offer a special thanks to my Christian house’s housemates, JSians, for

their support and encouragement and to my families.

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 TABLE OF CONTENTS

Abstract ………………………………………………………………………………….. i

Acknowledgements …………………………………………………………………….. ii

List of Tables …………………………………………………………………………... iii

CHAPTER

1 Introduction ………………………………………………………………… 1

1.1 Background of Study ………………………………………………….. 2

1.2 Statement of Problem …………………………………………………. 6

1.3 Purpose of the Study …………………………………………………... 7

1.4 Research Questions ……………………………………………………. 8

1.5 Hypotheses ……………………………………………………………... 9

1.6 Definition of Terms …………………………………………………... 10

2 Literature Review ………………………………………………………… 11

3 Methodology ………………………………………………………………. 16

3.1 Overview ……………………………………………………………… 16

3.2 Participants .…………………………………………………………...16

3.3 Design …………………………………………………………............. 16

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 3.4 Scale and Measure …………………………………………………… 16

3.5 Procedure ……………………………………………………………... 17

3.6 Data Analyses ………………………………………………………… 18

4 Result ………………………………………………………………………. 19

5 Discussion …………………………………………………………………. 21
5.1
5.2 Limitation and Future Study ………………………………………... 22

5.3 Conclusion ……………………………………………………………. 24

References ……………………………………………………………………………... 25

Appendix I ……………………………………………….………….……………....… 29

Appendix II ……………………………………………………………………………. 30

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