Research out of the University of Arizona suggests that naps may help toddlers learn new words.
The findings, which will be published in the journal Child Development, suggest that parents may want to consider maintaining regular naptimes for preschoolers, who are at an age at which naps have a tendency to dwindle, said lead study author and UA alumna Michelle Sandoval, who conducted the research as a doctoral student in the UA Department of Psychology.
Sandoval and her colleagues tested 39 typically developing 3-year-olds, divided into two groups: habitual nappers (those who nap four or more days a week) and non-habitual nappers (those who nap three or fewer days per week). Within each group, children were randomly assigned to either a napping condition, in which they would nap for at least 30 minutes after learning a new verb, or a wakefulness condition, in which they would not nap after learning.
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