Effect of Cognitive Load and Sleep on Memory Performance (Statistics Project Sample)

Effect of Cognitive Load and Sleep on Memory Performance Author Affiliation Course Instructor Due date Abstract Cognitive load is the amount of information a working memory will process at any given time. This load varies based on age and gender among other factors and affects memory performance. Sleep, as an essential process for body, mind, learning, and memory will influence the cognitive load and subsequently memory performance. Deprivation of sleep may present reduced neurocognitive performance and fatigue that affect performance. The purpose of the study is to contribute to the growing literature by examining the extent to which cognitive load will affect working memory. In so doing, the research uses sleeping hours to assess the cognitive load of learners and establish the effects on memory performance. Using a sample of 258 students selected from Kristiania College, department of psychology, we conducted correlation analysis and t-test for the hypothesis. The findings suggest a negative relationship between sleeping hours and memory performance. From the results, longer sleeping hours tend to yield poor working memory. However, the relationship is not statistically significant, an indication that sleeping hours are not a good indicator of memory performance. Keywords: Cognitive load, sleep deprivation, memory performance, working memory Effect of Cognitive Load and Sleep on Memory Performance Introduction Study Background Cognitive load is the amount of information a working memory will process at any given time. This load varies based on age and gender among other factors and affects memory performance. Sisakhti, Sachdev, and Batouli (2021) identify retrieval of information and performance of multiple tasks as measures of memory performance. The authors argued that a high working memory load tends to impair performance. Besides, an increase in the cognitive load will result in a decrease in accuracy among learners. Other studies indicate that processing tasks with higher cognitive load will yield a lower memory performance and vice versa. Sleep, as an essential process for body, mind, learning, and memory will influence the cognitive load and subsequently memory performance. Deprivation of sleep may present reduced neurocognitive performance and fatigue that affect performance. Alotaibi, Alosaimi, Alajlan, and Abdulrahman (2020) argued that poor sleep quality will generate stress and low cognitive load that hinder academic performance. Research on cognitive load, sleep, and their effects on memory performance remains inconclusive. The purpose of the study is to contribute to the growing literature by examining the extent to which cognitive load will affect working memory. Research Question Based on the background literature on cognitive load, sleep, and memory, the study attempts to answer the following two fundamental questions. 1 How does cognitive load influence working memory? Does a higher cognitive load result in poor working memory? 2 What is the relationship between sleeping hours and memory performance measured by 1-back and 2-back test scores? Research Hypothesis Null hypothesis (H0): There is no statistically significant relationship between sleeping hours and 1-back and 2-back test scores. Alternative hypothesis (H1): There is a statistically significant relationship between sleeping hours and 1-back and 2-back test scores. Method Participants: The participants are third-year students randomly selected from Kristiania College, Department of Psychology. All the participants are adults above 18 years of age. The study had 258 students, comprising of 202 female (78.3%) and 56 male (21.7%). Material: The study used the N-back test as a cognitive assessment tool to measure the participants’ cognitive control and working memory. Design: The study a quantitative research design to test the hypothesis. Specifically, it applies both the descriptive and correlational design to establish the relationship between sleeping hours and memory performance. Procedure: The participants tracked their sleep in 15-minute intervals for the last three nights before attending the lecture. They then completed an N-back training test that included both 1-back and 2-back tests and recorded the results. After the test, they were required to fill out a form that provided their gender, age, sleeping hours, and 1-back and 2-back tests. Statistical analysis: We conducted a correlation analysis and t-test in SPSS to establish the relationship between sleep and memory statistical difference in the mean values of the variables. Results Table 1: T-Test One-Sample Statistics N Mean Std. Deviation Std. Error Mean timer_sovn 258 7.4294 1.42923 .08898 Score_1back 258 84.72 24.197 1.506 Score_2back 258 65.19 29.984 1.867 Table 2 One-Sample Test Test Value = 0 t df Sig. (2-tailed) Mean Difference 95% Confidence Interval of the Difference Lower Upper timer_sovn 83.495 257 .000 7.42939 7.2542 7.6046 Score_1back 56.242 257 .000 84.725 81.76 87.69 Score_2back 34.922 257 .000 65.190 61.51 68.87 The t-test shows a significant effect for sleeping hours t (257) = 83.495, p < 0.05, 1-back test scores t (257) = 56.242, p < 0.05, and 2-back test scores t (257) = 34.922, p < 0.05. The average sleeping hours for the participants is 7.4294 while the average 1-back and 2-back test scores are 84.72 and 65.19 respectively Correlation Analysis Table 3 Correlations timer_sovn Score_1back Score_2back timer_sovn Pearson Correlation 1 -.071 -.067 Sig. (2-tailed) .257 .284 N 258 258 258 Score_1back Pearson Correlation -.071 1 .626** Sig. (2-tailed) .257 .000 N 258 258 258 Score_2back Pearson Correlation -.067 .626** 1 Sig. (2-tailed) .284 .000 N 258 258 258 **. Correlation is significant at the 0.01 level (2-tailed). The correlation results in Table 2 show a negative correlation for sleeping hours with 1-back scores r (257) = -0.071, p = 0.257. Similarly, the relationship between sleeping hours and 2-back scores is also negative r (257) = -0.067, p = 0.284. 1-back scores had a positive correlation with 2-back scores r (257) = 0.626, p < 0.01. Discussion The purpose of the study was to evaluate the effects of cognitive load on memory performance. It also establishes the effect of sleep on memory performance. Using correlation analysis, the findings suggest a negative relationship between sleeping hours and memory performance. F...