Literature Review
Sufficient sleep is defined as "the amount necessary to permit optimal daytime functioning" (Dahl, 1999). Most people, especially adolescents, do not receive sufficient sleep and thus suffer from sleep deprivation (Graham, 2000). Adolescents are particularly prone to this ailment due to biological changes in puberty affecting their sleep cycles. This increased rate of sleep deprivation in adolescents has a detrimental affect on learning by hindering memory formation, causing inattention and difficulty in concentration, and altering an individual's emotional stability. Research into sleep deprivation has provided consensual insight into these areas, despite various weaknesses concerning generalizability and confounding variables.

As children progress through adolescence and puberty, physical transformations occur making them especially susceptible to sleep deprivation. Their biological clocks change causing an alteration in the circadian rhythms that control sleep and wakefulness (Carpenter, 2001; Graham, 2000). Puberty occurs between the ages of 9 to 15 for boys and 8 to 16 for girls, thus children from elementary to high school are affected by this alteration (Graham, 2000). Mary A. Carskadon, Professor of Psychiatry and Human Behavior at Brown University, notes that these altered circadian rhythms cause adolescents to go to bed later and wake up later (Graham, 2000). A study of ten adolescents, who were put on a fixed sleep schedule for a week, shows that the above schedule alterations are due to the correlation between melatonin secretion, a hormone that causes sleep onset, and stages of development (Graham, 2000). According to this study, as adolescents mature the onset of melatonin secretion occurs later in the day, causing them to fall asleep later. The hormone also does not turn off until later in the morning, causing adolescents to naturally wake up later (Graham, 2000). The effects of these biological changes become evident in a summer camp study at Stanford University (Graham, 2000). This study, which took children ages 10 to 12 and monitored them for consecutive summers over 4 to 6 years, reveals that even as older and more mature adolescents sleep the same as their younger counterparts, they experience daytime drowsiness that appears and worsens with age. The biological changes that adolescents incur as they move through and beyond puberty, causing increased sleepiness and altered cycles, are coupled with the increased demands on adolescents to produce adverse occurrences of sleep deprivation (Carpenter, 2001; Graham, 2000).

Sleep is essential for effective memory formation, and therefore sleep deprivation has a negative impact on learning by hindering retention and recall of information (Blissitt, 2001; Butcher, 2000; Horne, 2000). A study by Robert Strickgold of Harvard Medical School reveals that subjects who have at least one night's sleep show improvement in their ability to learn and recall the information presented (Butcher, 2000). Another study conducted by Jan Born with the Medical University of Lubeck in Germany shows that in order for optimal memory consolidation to occur, subjects have to have a complete cycle of sleep with non-REM and REM sleep (Butcher, 2000). Taking the idea of sleep and memory a step further, researchers at the University of California San Diego used functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging to prove that the pre-frontal cortex is involved in memory formation during sleep (Horne, 2000). Their research demonstrates that subjects who are sleep deprived do not receive the cortical activity necessary for memory formation and consequently their free-recall ability falls by half. Memory formation is essential to the learning process, thus memory impairment leads to learning impairment.

Inattention and difficulty in concentration are additional effects of sleep deprivation that hinder learning. In fact, sleep deprivation has such a negative effect on attention that it can "mimic or exacerbate symptoms of ADHD (attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder), including distractibility, impulsivity, and difficulty with effortful control of attention"(Dahl, 1999). This level of inattention greatly impairs an individual's ability to comprehend and learn new information. Additionally, research data proves that it is difficult for sleep-deprived individuals to pay attention to tasks that "are not naturally engaging-like studying for an exam"(Graham, 2000, p. 13). Lectures are an example of these tasks, and laboratory studies conducted by Dinges show that a student who could normally "sustain attention for a 45 minute lecture in a classroom . . . might be able to manage only 3 to 5 minutes [when sleep deprived]"(Graham, 2000, p. 28). Tasks that involve "planning, strategy, or a complex sequence of steps" are also adversely affected by the inattention of sleep deprivation (Dahl, 1999). These tasks, which require high-level cognitive skills, and often involve logic and abstract thinking, are all dependant on the pre-frontal cortex, which is most sensitive to sleep deprivation (Dahl, 1999; Horne, 2000). Since these complex tasks are the ones most commonly found in education, if they are significantly impaired then so is learning (Dahl, 1999). Furthermore, an additional effect of sleep deprivation on attention is the frequency of micro sleeps, gaps in awareness and responsiveness, which increases with increased levels of sleep deprivation (Dahl, 1999; Graham, 2000). Indicating the prevalence of micro sleeps in sleep-deprived individuals, researchers conducted a study of sleepy students at computers, and observed full 30-second lapses in which the subjects did not respond (Graham, 2000). The lapses ranged from zero in subjects with eight hours of sleep, to a maximum of 188 in subjects with four hours of sleep (Graham, 2000). This data indicates that increased inattentiveness accompanies increased sleep deprivation (Graham, 2000). Students with this frequency of micro-sleeps are impossible to teach and are also unable to learn (Graham, 2000).

Sleep deprivation also affects an individual's emotional regulation and mood. Students who are sleep deprived tend to be irritable and also tend to become angry when faced with frustration (Dahl, 1999; Graham, 2000). This irritability affects their learning because they are less likely to take the time to understand, and ultimately to learn new and complex material (Dahl, 1999). Another common emotional effect of sleep deprivation is a lack of control over emotional responses (Carpenter, 2001; Dahl, 1999; Graham, 2000). The pre-frontal cortex is involved with this emotional control, and since its development in adolescents is dependent on sleep, it cannot carry out its proper role in sleep-deprived individuals (Graham, 2000). Therefore, these individuals show a "decrease in [their] ability to control, inhibit, or modify emotional responses to bring them in line with long term goals"(Dahl, 1999). They are thus unable to set their emotions aside in order to perform complex tasks at school: those with long-term goals like preparing for a test (Dahl, 1999). A study performed by Ronald Dahl of the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, in which ten adolescents were shown a series of words tied to emotional backgrounds, illustrates the effects that these out of control emotions have on the individual (Graham, 2000). Dahl's research shows that when compared with memorization of words without emotional context, the effect of sleep deprivation on words with emotional context is detrimental. This study demonstrates the damaging effects that sleep deprivation has on individuals as they try to "control their feelings and behavior and make plans related to school and other responsibilities"( Graham, 2000, p.14). Sleep deprivation combines lack of emotional control with increased irritability to detrimentally affect an individual's chance of learning.

The research currently available for sleep deprivation, while adequate, has areas for improvement. There is a clear lack of research as to the effects of sleep deprivation in elementary school children, especially below third grade (Graham, 2000). This lack of research hinders the generalizability of the current findings. The problem of generalizability also exists because some of the research is conducted in a laboratory. This setting of a lab is different from real-life, therefore the results obtained may be inaccurate. Additionally, there is a lack of longitudinal studies to track sleep deprivation as one moves through childhood, to puberty, and beyond. This data would help to highlight the changes that occur in the sleep cycle, and precisely how their effects change with a child's age. Lastly, there are confounding variables that can affect the results of sleep deprivation studies such as extra stress from school and family. All of these weaknesses, however, are negated by the concurrence that is found among the various studies into the effects of sleep deprivation on learning. This agreement adds validity to the findings, and surpasses any faults that might render the results questionable.

Adolescents are especially prone to the detrimental impact of sleep deprivation due to the biological changes they incur as a result of puberty. This lack of sleep hinders learning by inhibiting memory formation, causing attention and concentration difficulties, and altering emotional control and mood.

Program
The most effective educational package for teachers on sleep deprivation will educate them on the effects of sleep deprivation and also how to alter their teaching methods in order to mitigate these effects in their students. The program will focus on the three main areas that sleep deprivation impacts including memory, attention, and emotional control.

Teachers will be given information as to exactly how sleep deprivation hinders learning. They will be informed that sleep deprivation impedes memory formation by negatively impacting the development of the prefrontal cortex (Horne, 2000). The program will also discuss the prevalence of inattentiveness among sleep deprived individuals (Dahl, 1999; Graham, 2000). Lastly, it will explain the emotional turmoil that sleep deprived children face as they try to control their feelings and behavior in order to make plans for school (Graham, 2000). Teachers will be able to apply this information to their educational techniques in order to optimally benefit the student.

The proposal will also provide suggestions on how to prevent the negative effects of sleep deprivation from hindering their students' education. For sleep deprivation's detrimental impact on memory, the program will focus on the use of mnemonic devices. These methods will improve the student's memory formation ability and better equip them when sleep deprivation hits. The program will also address inattention due to sleep deprivation by emphasizing the use of interactive activities in learning. It will stress the need to involve the students in learning so that they are less likely to suffer from lapses in attention. This involvement will help make the educational activities naturally engaging to the students and thus improve their ability to pay attention to them (Graham, 2000). Lastly, the program will focus on the lack of emotional control due to sleep deprivation by educating teachers on the ways of coping with emotion and stress. They will then be able to relay such techniques onto their students to better equip them when their emotions seem out of control.

Research Proposal
Problem
To what extent does the proposed educational training program mitigate the effects of sleep deprivation on learning in elementary school students?

Hypothesis
The proposed teaching of mnemonic devices will provide students with the skills they need in order to minimize the detrimental effects of sleep deprivation on learning by increasing memory retention.

Methodology

In school, the teachers will be supplied identical lesson plans, one with the mnemonics and one without, for the duration of this experiment. Trained observers will also monitor the classroom so that one teacher's method will not unfairly inhibit or enhance a student's learning and ultimately their scores on the test. Also, the two schools in the program will be as similar as possible in order to eliminate social and economical situations as confounding variables.

Blissitt, P. (2001). Sleep, memory, and learning. Journal of Neuroscience Nursing, 33, 208. Retrieved Dec. 1, 2001, from Infotrac database.

Butcher, J. (2000). Sleep deprivation impairs memory formation, say researchers. Lancet, 356, 1907. Retrieved Nov. 20, 2001, from EBSCOHost database.

Carpenter, S. (2001). Sleep deprivation may be undermining teen health. APA Monitor on Psychology, 32. Retrieved Nov. 7, 2001, from the World Wide Web: http://www.apa.org/monitor/oct01/sleepteen.html

Dahl, R. (1999). The consequences of insufficient sleep for adolescents. Phi Delta Kappan, 80, 354. Retrieved Nov. 25, 2001, from EBSCOHost database.

Graham, M. (2000). Sleep need, patterns, and difficulties of adolescents (Report PS028871). Washington, D.C.: Elementary and Childhood Education. (ERIC Document Reproduction Service No. ED446816).

Horne, J. (2000, February 10). Images of lost sleep. Nature, 605-606.