Sleep Benefits Memory for Semantic Category Structure While Preserving Exemplar-Specific Information.

ABSTRACT: Semantic memory encompasses knowledge about both the properties that typify concepts (e.g. robins, like all birds, have wings) as well as the properties that individuate conceptually related items (e.g. robins, in particular, have red breasts). We investigate the impact of sleep on new semantic learning using a property inference task in which both kinds of information are initially acquired equally well. Participants learned about three categories of novel objects possessing some properties that were shared among category exemplars and others that were unique to an exemplar, with exposure frequency varying across categories. In Experiment 1, memory for shared properties improved and memory for unique properties was preserved across a night of sleep, while memory for both feature types dec

SUBMITTER: Schapiro AC 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5665979 | biostudies-literature | 2017 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature