MATHEMATICAL STUDIES INTERNAL ASSESMENT

Sleep and Short term

memory
An study investigating the relationship
between sleep and short term memory
Nwachukwu Kingsley

Introduction
Sleep is a natural shift of consciousness that occurs naturally to us
humans. During the sleeping process our body remains at rest while our
brain stays active overseeing biological maintenance that keeps our body
in top shape and prepared for the work of the next day. Growing up,
during weekdays almost every child has been told to go to sleep at 8pm
or 9pm because it is healthy. Studies show that sleep has beneficial
effects on our health while inadequate sleep can negatively affect our
decision making and our attention to detail. As a child who was always
told to go to bed early, I have decided to undertake a similar study to
investigate the affects of different sleep patterns on the brain and find out
if it is just a myth parents tell children. This will be analyzed using a
various number of Mathematical processes to determine what effect sleep
has on the ability to retain information for a short amount of time.
Statement of task
The main purpose of this investigation is to deduce whether or not
the amount of sleep a teenager regularly gets has a direct correlation with
their short term memory. Information for this analysis will be collected at
random from students attending Kungsholmens Gymnasium. I will be
asking a wide range of students from the 10 th grade to the 12th grade to
create an equal dispersion of data. Having a varied number of students is
necessary for this investigation to show that this correlation happens in
everybody and is not limited to a specific type of person. The data will be
collected and recorded after which, I will plot a graph which I will use as a

visual aid to represent what the correlation is between amount of sleep

gotten and their attention to details. If my hypothesis is correct, then the
results I get should support the idea that a persons attention to detail will
diminish depending on how much sleep they got the night before. If the
results I collect are exact enough then my hypothesis will be proven. The
reason I chose to use this idea for my internal assessment is because I
think it will be interesting to see if something like sleep and daily function
can be mathematically proven with the proper calculations.
Hypothesis: The amount of sleep a person gets will be directly correlated
to their ability to retain information for a short amount of time
H0

Null hypothesis: A persons short term memory is

independent of the amount of sleep they get.

H1

Alternative hypothesis: A persons short term memory is

not independent of the amount of sleep they get.

Plan of Investigation
The data that I will be using for this investigation was gathered from
various students attending my school at random. The reason I will be
randomly collecting my data is to ensure that the correlation is present in
all people not a specific type of person. In total I will be measuring 50
students, 25 male students and 25 female students, this even number of
gender will ensure that the correlation applies to both genders. First the
participants will state how much sleep they get on a regular basis, then he

participants will have 3 minutes look at 10 playing cards put in a specific

sequence, afterwards they will be asked to recreate the sequence using
playing cards.

The number of cards they can remember in the right

sequence will be recorded. After the data has been recorded I am going to
make a scatter plot and award a line of best fit to determine if there is a
linear correlation. After which I will use the standard deviation calculations
to find out how disperse the data is. I will also find the equation of the line
by finding the least squares regression line. I will then find out the
Pearsons Correlation Coefficient to find the strength of the correlation of
my data. Finally I will run a Chi squared test to find out if the data is
independent or not independent of each other.

Data collection
Table 1: table displaying 50 students sleep pattern in hours and number
of cards in the right sequence remembered
Students
(male)
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11

Hours
(hrs)
8
5
6
6
8
7
6
6
5.5
6
6

of

sleep Cards
and
remembered
10
4
7
7
10
9
9
7
5
5
6

sequences

12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
Students
(female)
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
Sum
Average

8
8
8
9
7
7
5
7.5
8
6.5
7
7
8
8

9
9
8
10
9
6
4
8
8
10
10
9
8
10

8
8
6
7
8
8
9
5.5
6.5
6
6
7
7
7
8.5
9
8
6
7
8
7.5
8
8
9
9
360.5
7.21

10
10
9
8
9
6
5
5
8
7
9
9
4
4
8
7
8
6
8
8
7
7
10
6
5
343
6.86

The averages for the x and y columns above were calculated by first
finding the sum of all 50 data points in each column and they dividing the
sum by 50. The calculations finding the average of x are shown below:

50

360.5
50

=7.21

The average for the y column was found using the same equation
substituting the x for y the calculations are shown below:

50

=
y

343
50

=6.86
The modes of the hours of sleep for the 50 students (x) is 8
The mode of the cards and sequences remembered by the students (y)
are 8 and 9

Table 2: Table displaying chi-squared information where x is the hours of

sleep gotten by the subjects (hrs) and y is the corresponding amount of
sequences remembered by the subject
x
8
5
6
6
8
7

y
10
4
7
7
10
9

xy
80
20
42
42
80
63

x
64
25
36
36
64
49

100
16
49
49
100
81

.6241
4.8841
1.4641
1.4641
.6241
.0441

9.8596
8.1796
.0196
.0196
9.8596
4.5796

6
6
5.5
6
6
8
8
8
9
7
7
5
7.5
8
6.5
7
7
8
8
8
8
6
7
8
8
9
5.5
6.5
6
6
7
7
7
8.5
9
8
6
7
8
7.5
8
8
9
9
360.5

9
7
5
5
6
9
9
8
10
9
6
4
8
8
10
10
9
8
10
10
10
9
8
9
6
5
5
8
7
9
9
4
4
8
7
8
6
8
8
7
7
10
6
5
380

54
42
27.5
30
36
72
72
64
90
63
42
20
60
64
65
70
63
64
80
80
80
54
56
72
48
45
27.5
52
42
54
63
28
28
68
63
64
36
56
64
52.5
56
80
54
45
2773.5

7.21

7.6

55.47

36
36
30.25
36
36
64
64
64
81
49
49
25
56.25
64
42.25
49
49
64
64
64
64
36
49
64
64
81
30.25
42.25
36
36
49
49
49
72.25
81
64
36
49
64
56.25
64
64
81
81
2658.7
5
53.175

81
49
25
25
36
81
81
64
100
81
36
16
64
64
100
100
81
64
100
100
100
81
64
81
36
25
25
64
49
81
81
16
16
64
49
64
36
64
64
49
49
100
36
25
306
2
61.2

1.4641
1.4641
2.9241
1.4641
1.4641
.6241
.6241
.6241
3.2041
.0441
.0441
4.8841
.0841
.6241
.5041
.0441
.0441
.6241
.6241
.6241
.6241
1.4641
.0441
.6241
.6241
3.2041
2.9241
.5041
1.4641
1.4641
.0441
.0441
.0441
1.6641
3.2041
.6241
1.4641
.0441
.6241
.0841
.6241
.6241
3.2041
3.2041
59.594

4.5796
.0196
3.4596
3.4596
.7396
4.5796
4.5796
1.2996
9.8596
4.5796
.7396
8.1796
1.2996
1.2996
9.8596
9.8596
4.5796
1.2996
9.8596
9.8596
9.8596
4.5796
1.2996
4.5796
.7396
3.4596
3.4596
1.2996
.0196
4.5796
4.5796
8.1796
8.1796
1.2996
.0196
1.2996
.7396
1.2996
1.2996
.0196
.0196
9.8596
.7396
3.4596
201.38

Sum

1.1909

4.0276

Average

4
The average for column x displayed in the table above was found using
the formula:

x
=

50

This same formula was used in order to find the averages for the rest of
the columns above with a substitute of

x
for whatever data the

corresponding column contains and finding the sum of each respective

column rather than the column of x.
The correlation coefficient

(r )

will be used to test and determine if there

is a correlation between subjects average sleep and their short term

memory. The formula being used for this test is:
r=
xy

In the given formula above S

is the covariance.
S xy =

S xy =

xy
n

(360.5 )( 380 )
( 7.21 ) ( 7.6 )
50

S xy =

136990
54.796
50

S xy =2685.004
In this formula for the correlation coefficient (r ) , the working for
shown above. Using the formula the workings to find
shown below:

Sx

and

Sy

S xy
are

is

ni=1 (x ix )
Sx =
n
S x = 2658.7550 ( 7.21 )
S x =47.940

ni=1 ( y i y )
S y=
n
S y = 306250 ( 7.6 )

S y =51.790
r=

2685.004
( 47.940 ) (51.970)
r=1.077

The data from the table above was inserted into the calculator and the
correlation coefficient (r) for the data is equal to 0.331. This indicates that
there is weak correlations between the amounts of sleep gotten and short
term memory the day after. Because r= 0.331, this means that

r 2=0.109 ,

which indicates that there is very weak correlation between the two data
sets.
The chi squared test is used to determine if the two sets of data are
dependent or independent of each other. A table of observed data and
expected data is shown and calculated to confirm if there are significant
differences between the two sets. The formula I will be calculating this
with is:
f 0f e 2

2calc =
Table 3: sample calculation for chi squared table of values observed

B1
B2

A1
A
C
A+C

A2
B
D
B+D

Total
A+B
C+D

Table 4: Sample calculation for chi-squared table of values expected

B1

A1

A2

( A+ B )( A +C)
n

( A+ B )(B+ D)
n

B2

( A+ C ) (C + D)
n
Total

A+C

Total
A+B

( B+ D ) (C + D)
n

C+D

B+D

Table 5: Table displaying the relationship between amounts of sleep (hrs) and
card sequences remembered by subjects
Card sequences
remembered

Limitations
In this investigation a couple of limitations were present and this could
have affected how reliable our outcome is. A limitation to this
investigation was that all samples were collected from students attending
my school. Although the students were from different grades and
backgrounds the participants did not present a random sample but
instead an opportunity sample. All the subjects taken were from similar
age groups and it is possible that some subjects had a memorization
method in order to recall the sequences of the cards. Another limitation
was the measurement of sleep as some students do not recall the time
they slept so they were forced to take a rough guess and therefore the
numbers are not 100 percent accurate because of this some of the data
points measured were off by a few hours or less.
Conclusion
In spite of the limitations mentioned above, the data overall supports the
null hypothesis and rejects the alternative hypothesis that A persons
short term memory is not independent of the amount of sleep they get.
This means that a persons short term memory is not independent of the
amount of sleep they get. Furthermore, the data not only supports the null
hypothesis, but it also shows that there is significance between both data
sets. The data gotten was unbiased as the pool of information was gotten
over a wide variety of people with different habits, as well as the genders
tested were equal. Due to this investigation it can be determined that the
short term memory is does not correlate or has a very weak correlation to
a persons sleep patterns.