The article, “Sleep, Memory, and Aging: The Link between Slow-Wave Sleep and Episodic Memory Changes from Younger to Older Adults,” by Michael K. Scullin (2013) focuses on understanding the relationship between, sleep, memory, and aging. “Among the younger adults, currently learned episodic memories are often reactivated and then consolidated in times of slow-wave sleep” (Scullin, 2013). There exist a significant correlation between sleep among the young adults and older adults.
The study has raised the question, what is sleep and how important is it? The other major question raised is, what type of memories are often formed during slow wave sleep and what effects do they have in the stages of life? (Scullin, 2013). It is clear from previous research that slow wave sleep tends to decline significantly across the entire lifespan, but little has been done in determining whether these memory consolidations will also take place among the older adults. Therefore, the overarching question that the research investigated was whether sleep benefits episodic memory among the healthy older adults as it benefits younger adults.
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Qualitative research is simply an exploratory research, and it is often employed to gain a deeper understanding of various underlying reasons, opinions, or even motivations. According to Reis & Judd, (2000), qualitative research is thus suitable when it comes to uncovering various trends in thought and opinions, to understand the problem. Common methods used in gathering data in qualitative research include focus groups, interviews, and even observations. Quantitative research on the other hand commonly used to quantify the problem under investigation by generating numerical data or data. It can thus be used to quantify attitudes of people, their behaviors, and even opinions then generalize the outcome from a larger population. Quantitative methods of collection data include surveys, face-to-face interviews, longitudinal studies, and even systematic observations.
Based on the study methodology and procedure for the collection of data, it can be said that the study employed quantitative study to gather numerical data to understand whether sleep benefits episodic memory among the healthy older adults as it benefits younger adults. According to Scullin (2013), the sample size used in the study was comprised of 57 young adults and 41 older adults, and these were recruited from Washington University psychology department participant pools. The sample population were randomly assigned the following three groups major groups: first was the 12-hr wake, a second was 12-hr sleep, and thirdly was 24-hr (night-to-night) sleep groups. Potential recent sleep habit influences were then examined through the administration of the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index that focuses specifically on questions regarding wake and bedtime in addition to commonalities of sleep disturbances within a period of one month. Participants completed the “Morningness-Eveningness Questionnaire that enabled for the evaluation of optimal time of day on memory recall” (Scullin, 2013).
Further, the possible influence of optimal time of day was also evaluated by use of MEQ that asked various questions that were related to morning alertness in addition to a preferred time to exercise, work or even take a test. To measure sleep architecture, the study employed the use of a “wireless home sleep-stage monitoring device, validated about polysomnography” (Scullin, 2013). Wireless home sleep-stage monitoring device has a clock base station in addition to an adjustable headband that participant wore on their forehead. These headbands had sensors used in gathering electrophysiological data from a single channel, process them and them transmit the same wirelessly to the base station. At the base station, there was a microprocessor which uses the signal transmitted to calculate the stages of sleep based on the standard polysomnography scoring norms. Further, wristband actigraphy was also engaged to ascertain the napping between experimental sessions.
The study can be associated with memory as the main research area of psychology. This is because; research on memory specifically focuses on various factors that play a role in the determination of how difficult it is to learn or even to remember information. It will thus focus on study areas such as working memory representation, the long-term memory consolidation, the memory for objects and events, influences of sleep, emotion and even stress. This area of research further researches on normal changes associated with aging.
Human research must be conducted with ethical approval and are considered the norms or even standards when conducting research. In this article, various ethical considerations have taken. First, the author prevented the study against the fabrication and falsifying of data by referencing and acknowledging all previous studies’ data and information. Ethical code and policies considered the foundation of ethical behavior have also been adopted where the researcher remained honest and highly objective throughout the study. By being objective, the researcher has been able to avoid bias within experimental design, in the data analysis and even in the data interpretation. The researcher observed and upheld the confidentiality of his study population by not mentioning the names of participants.
Additional ethical issues include voluntary participation and informed consent which is very critical when using human (Aguinis & Henle, 2002). These principles ensure that human subjects decide to participate on their free will and further they have been fully informed of the procedures employed in the research and any potential risks. Protection and safety of the participants are considered very critical in research, and this should be observed to ensure that no harm will befall the participants during the research.
In conclusion, the researcher has been able to research critically to understand whether sleep benefits episodic memory in healthy older adults as it does to the younger adults. The study employed a quantitative methodology to gather information to answer the research topic. Further, the study has focused on several ethical issues that are considered important in research especially those involving human beings as participants.
References
Aguinis, H., & Henle, C. A. (2002). Ethics in research. Handbook of research methods in industrial and organizational psychology , 34-56.
Reis, H. T., & Judd, C. M. (2000). Handbook of research methods in social and personality psychology . Cambridge University Press.
Scullin, M. K. (2013). Sleep, memory, and aging: The link between slow-wave sleep and episodic memory changes from younger to older adults. Psychology and aging , 28 (1), 105.
