Available online at:
https://cc.arcabc.ca/islandora/object/cc%3Apsycjournal

J Camosun Psyc Res. (2024). Vol. 6(1), pp. 24-62.
Submitted Winter 2024; accepted May 2024.

The Impact of Sleep, Mood, Physical Activity, and Study
Time on Memory Retention.
Authors: Katie O’Neill*, Ella Sokolosky, Gabe Damasceno, and Paige Schoening
Supervising Instructor: Michael Pollock, Psyc 110 (“Experimental Psychology”)
Department of Psychology, Camosun College, 3100 Foul Bay Road, Victoria, BC, Canada V8P 5J2
*Corresponding author email: katie.oneill4444@gmail.com

ABSTRACT
In this paper, we aim to discover what factors influence memory retention, and how to
improve our ability to retain relevant information to recall at a later time. Previous research has
predicted levels of memory retention by variables such as the amount of sleep a person has each
night, the level of anxiety-depression a person experiences, the level of physical activity
someone does each day, and study duration, frequency, and spacing. In our first (correlational)
study, we tested the strength of these relationships by examining naturalistic daily changes in
their variables longitudinally over one week. We measured sleep by tracking the number of
minutes of sleep during each night, and the level of anxiety-depression by tracking heart rate,
urine and subjective mood of anxiety-depression. We recorded physical activity by tracking how
much exercise we did throughout the day and the intensity of the exercise on a 1-9 scale. For
studying we tracked the overall amount of time spent studying, the number of times studying
took place, how long each study session was, and how long the space was in between study
sessions. Memory retention was tested by our ability to remember at the end of the day a set of
20 randomized words given in the morning. Based on the strength of correlation found between
study time and memory retention, we then conducted a second (experimental) study to test for a
causal relationship between these two variables. Over eight days we assigned participants on
alternating days to have either 3 separate 5-minute study sessions or just 1 single study session
and measured the effect this had upon memory and anxiety-depression. Data pooled across
participants in our correlational study showed significant correlations of memory retention with
anxiety-depression subjective measurements, overall study time, study session frequency,
duration, and spacing, but not with sleep amount, heart rate, time spent urinating, nor with
physical activity amount and intensity. Data from our experimental study showed that increasing
study time caused an enhancement of memory retention, which could not be accounted for by
changes in anxiety-depression. Based on our experimental results, we recommend that in order to
improve the ability to retain and recall information, more time should be spent studying.

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1. Introduction
1.1 Research Problem
As current undergraduate students, these
are the following reasons why each
contributor to this paper sought insight into
how to improve our ability to retain
information. One area of interest was how
the amount of sleep you get might affect
memory retention. It is common among fulltime students to sacrifice sleep to study, and
finding out whether this type of schedule
helps or hinders memory would be useful for
students. Another area of interest was how
anxiety-depression affects our memory
retention during times of heightened internal
stress. When increased stress occurs, we
looked at whether cognitive processes are
inhibited and the recall of information or
memories becomes more challenging to
recall. Other components of this research
were investigating the impact of physical
activity and the duration, frequency, and
spacing of studying upon memory retention.
Finding any variable that could improve the
ability to retain information from lectures
and apply that knowledge can greatly benefit
students. In summary, we are looking to
evaluate the factors that will affect or not
affect the ability to retain and recall
information.
1.2 Literature Review
One factor previously found to predict
memory retention is the duration a person
sleeps. For example, in an experimental
study by Cousins et al. (2019), 29
adolescents from ages 15-18 were given 5
hours of sleep per night for 5 nights back-toback along with a control group made up of
30 adolescents that were given 9 hours of
sleep opportunity for the same period. After
the 5-night sleep period, both groups were

given detailed information about 6 ant and 6
crab species over 6 hours. Retention of the
information was then tested 30 minutes and
3 days after learning by testing them on
factual knowledge that was learned during
the 6 hours. There was also a surprise test 42
days after learning in which 14 adolescents
of the 5-hour group and 22 adolescents of
the 9-hour group participated in a test of
factual knowledge based on the initial 6hour learning period. From all of the tests,
the results showed that the group who was
only given a 5-hour sleep opportunity per
night experienced significant issues with
retention. They showed a 26% increase in
forgetting for the test that occurred 30
minutes after learning, a 34% increase in
forgetting for the test that occurred 3 days
after learning and a 65% increase in
forgetting for the 42 days after the test.
Based on these results, the researchers
suggested that the less a person sleeps the
less they will be able to retain information
while learning. This also suggests that with
more sleep and maintenance of good sleep
habits, the better a person will be able to
retain information and therefore improve
their learning experiences.
A second factor previously found to
predict memory retention is anxietydepression. For example, in an experimental
study by Darcet et al. (2014), researchers
compared the memory performance of
healthy control mice to an animal model of
anxiety-depression created by giving a
separate group of mice drops of
corticosterone within the water for 28 days
(about 4 weeks) before the testing and
throughout the testing days. The mice were
then given memory tasks to compare the
natural (control) group to the depressed
(experimental) group. The memory tasks
were the Novel Object Recognition Test,
Contextual Fear Conditioning, the Morris
Water Maze, and the Barnes Maze, in order
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to measure episodic memory, associative
memory, and visual-spatial memory. It was
confirmed that the mice given corticosterone
showed anxio-depressive-like behaviour,
evaluated using the Open Field and the
Splash tests. Furthermore, these mice
displayed a decline of overall memory
retention in the short- and long-term, less
interest in the tasks of exploring, and lower
discrimination, all characteristic of cognitive
memory impairment. For example,
depressed mice were observed to spend less
time exploring a new object and be less
motivated or able to locate the platform
beneath the water that was explored in the
days before. In contrast, the normal mice
(control group) were observed to learn tasks
and hold both short- and long-term
memories to complete some of the same
tasks on different days. Based on these
results, the researchers suggested that the
mice given corticosterone, and therefore
feeling anxious-depressed, had more
difficulty with all the memory tasks. This
could help us understand why an anxiousdepressed loved one may forget the butter
when they shop at the store even though the
grocery list is in their pocket.
A third factor previously found to predict
memory retention is the level of physical
activity. For example, in an experimental
study by Van der Borght et al. (1997),
researchers tested the effect of physical
activity in mice on their capacity to form a
new memory and how well they could retain
it. In the experiment, 32 mice were held in
two separate cages, 16 in each, one with a
running wheel and one without. After 14
days, mice were given a day in a neutral
cage to control for stimulation of the
sympathetic nervous system before the tests.
During the following 3 days, 8 mice from
each cage were then set loose in a Y maze to
form their memory of the maze. Over the
next 4 days, half of the sedentary mice and

half of the active mice were tested on their
memory of the maze. The mice from the
cage with the running wheel performed
significantly better in navigating the
pathway through the maze than the
sedentary mice. Based on these results, the
researchers suggested that exercise
improved the learning curve of the Y maze
by the rats leading to enhanced retention of
how to navigate it.
A fourth factor previously found to
predict memory retention is the spacing and
duration of learning. For example, in an
experimental study by Sisti et al. (2007), the
researchers used two different experiments
to study the effects of spacing out learning
times on memory retention, and cell growth
in the hippocampus and dentate gyrus. The
experimental studies consisted of three
groups using rats as subjects, one spaced
learning group, one massed learning group,
and a naive group which had no training.
The rats were put through a Morris water
maze where they had 90 seconds to find
their way to the platform that was
submerged slightly under the water at the
end. The water maze consisted of a circular
metal tank, barriers, and opaque whitecolored water to create a challenge in
finding the platform. After they had
completed the maze, they were placed in a
bucket for 60 seconds to avoid visual access
to cues. In the first experiment, the spaced
group was put through 4 learning trials per
day for 4 days, and the massed group was
put through 16 trials in one day. In the
second experiment, the researchers assessed
the rat's memory of the maze 2 days after the
training had ended, and then again 2 weeks
after the training had ended. The time
between training was increased from 1
minute to 60 minutes and during this hour
the rats were returned to their cages. In the
first experiment, it was found that the
animals in the spaced group outperformed
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navigating the maze than those in the
massed group. In the second experiment, the
first two trials showed similar results in both
groups, and the trial after 2 weeks showed
the spaced group significantly outperformed
the massed group. Based on these results,
the researchers suggested that spaced
learning times are the most effective way to
increase memory retention.
1.3 Hypotheses
Based on the above literature review, we
predicted the following hypotheses:
● Hypothesis #1: If the amount of sleep
increases then memory retention will
increase.
● Hypothesis #2: If anxiety-depression
increases then memory retention will
decrease.
● Hypothesis #3: If physical exercise
increases memory retention will increase.
● Hypothesis #4: If study time increases
then memory retention will increase.

studying and exercising habits. Three of the
participants were returning to college after
several years off and one was coming from
secondary education with 1.5 years off
between high school and college studies.
2.2 Correlational Study Methods
We first performed a correlational study
to test concurrently all of our hypotheses by
examining naturalistic daily changes in their
variables longitudinally. Each participant
recorded each of the following 5 variables:
sleep, anxiety-depression, physical activity,
study time, and memory retention.
2.2.1 Sleep
To measure sleep, each participant
tracked when they went to sleep and when
they woke up. We then calculated the total
amount of sleep that each participant had per
night in minutes.
2.2.2 Anxiety-Depression

2. Methods
2.1 Participants
The 4 authors of this paper served as the
participants in its studies. The participants
ranged in age from 19-49 years old, with an
average age of 29 years, and included 3
females and 1 male; all living in Victoria,
BC, Canada. The participants were all
undergraduate students at Camosun College
who completed the current studies as an
assignment for Psyc 110 “Experimental
Psychology” and were grouped together due
to their mutual interest in memory retention.
Two participants had experienced
anxious/depressive disorders, and one had
experienced obsessive-compulsive disorder.
Aside from those mental health difficulties,
participants had regular eating, sleeping,

To measure anxiety-depression we used 3
different methods. First, we measured heart
rate by participants tracking their heart beats
per minute using a timer and taking their
pulse from the neck or wrist. Heart rate was
recorded at three times per day: 8 am, 1 pm
and 7:59 pm (one minute before the memory
test). Second, participants recorded their
total time of urination in seconds per 24
hours, tracking each day from 8 pm to 8 pm
the following day. The time tracked per
urination was counted in the head of the
participant on some days, timed with a timer
on some days, and estimated on some days.
Third, a self-reported anxiety-depression
measurement was taken on a subjective
scale from 1-5, where 1 = none, 2 = mild, 3
= moderate, 4 = severe, and 5 =
incapacitating. This report was taken
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directly before the word recall test and based
on how we felt at that moment.
2.2.3 Physical Activity
To measure physical activity levels, a
modified version of the Bouchard Physical
Activity Log (see Appendix) was filled out
daily by each of the participants. In this log,
participants rated their level of physical
activity on the following 1-9 scale: 1 = lying
down, 2 = seated, 3 = standing, 4 =
sedentary activity, 5 = light manual work, 6
= light sport or leisure activity, 7 = moderate
manual work, 8 = moderate physical
activity, and 9 =intense physical activity.
The intensity and length of the physical
activity was assessed at the moment to
maintain the accuracy of the recording. The
length of physical activity was measured in
hours.
2.2.4 Study Time
To measure study time, the participants
recorded 4 different variables. They
measured the overall amount of time spent
studying each day, the number of separate
times the participant studied in the day, the
average length of study sessions in the day,
and the average spacing of time spent not
studying in the day. We defined studying as
participants sitting down to intentionally
review words on the list that day using a
variety of methods such as writing them
down, mind mapping, reciting them
verbally, or thinking about the words.
2.2.5 Memory Retention
To measure memory retention, each
participant received a list of 20 randomized
words at 8 am each day of the study. The list
was generated using
www.randomwordgenerator.com. The list

was generated with no specific settings and
the word type was set to all word types.
Participants were then tested at 8 pm each
day by being asked to recall as many words
from the list of 20 words as possible. The
score of the test was determined by the
number of words that were remembered, out
of a maximum possible score of 20. The set
of words was different on each day of the
study but were the same sets for each of the
participants. Participants studied with no
restrictions on study time or frequency.
2.3 Correlational Study Planned Analyses
To assess the strength and statistical
significance of associations between
variables predicted by our four hypotheses,
we performed Pearson product-moment
correlations of their predictor variables
sleep, anxiety-depression, physical activity
and study time with their outcome variable
of memory retention. For testing Hypothesis
#1, we correlated the hours of sleep and the
number of words remembered. For testing
Hypothesis #2, we examined correlations of
heart rate, time spent urinating, and anxietydepression subjective ratings with the
number of words remembered. For testing
Hypothesis #3, we correlated both the
amount and intensity of physical activity
with the number of words remembered. For
testing Hypothesis #4, we correlated the
overall amount of time spent studying, the
number of times studying took place, how
long each study session was, and how long
the space was in between study sessions
with the number of words remembered. We
performed all of the above correlations
separately for each participant as well as
using data pooled across all of the
participants. For the correlations using
pooled data, in addition to using the raw
data, we also performed correlations after
we had first transformed the data from each
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participant into z-scores to standardize
differences in averages and variability seen
between the participants in their data and
thus make them more comparable. A
correlation coefficient was considered
statistically significant if the probability of
its random occurrence (p) was < .05 (i.e.,
less than 5% of the time expected by chance
alone).
2.4 Experimental Study Methods
Based on the strength of the correlation
between study time and memory retention
we then chose to conduct an experimental
study to test for a causal relationship
between these two variables from
Hypothesis #4.
We manipulated the independent
variable, study duration, over eight days
using an alternating (ABAB) design, with 4
experimental days and 4 control days per
participant equally spaced over time to
control for time effects. Control days were
on days 1, 3, 5, and 7 and experimental days
were on days 2, 4, 6, and 8 for Participants
#2, 3, and 4. However, due to scheduling
issues with Participant #1, their control days
fell on days 1, 3, 5, and 6 and their
experimental days fell on days 2, 4, 7, and 8.
Each day participants were given a
randomized set of 20 words at 8 am and
tested for memory of these words at 8 pm.
On experimental days participants studied
for 5 minutes 3 times throughout the day (at
approximately 9 am, 1 pm, 7 pm) equaling a
total study time of 15 minutes. On control
days participants studied for 5 minutes in 1
single study session, not later than 30
minutes before the random word test was
given. The random lists of words were
generated using the website
https://randomwordgenerator.com. To avoid
confounding variables, participants did not
study 30 minutes before the test each day. It

was not possible to control for placebo
effects since participants could not be made
unaware of whether they were receiving
different amounts of study time. Although it
was not entirely possible to eliminate the
possibility of experimenter expectancy
effects in our dependent variable (DV)
measurements, this possibility was reduced
by using an objective behavioural
measurement of memory performance
(number of words recalled), as compared to
the use of subjective ratings. Since we had
found in our correlational study that selfreported anxiety-depression was also highly
correlated with memory, we measured our
mood on a subjective scale (1=none, 2=mild,
3=moderate, 4=severe, 5=incapacitating) in
the moments before taking the memory test
in order to confirm that, on average, levels
of this variable did not act as a confounding
variable that systematically differed between
the experimental and control days.
2.5 Experimental Study Planned Analyses
To assess the statistical significance of
differences seen in memory retention 3study session experimental days vs. 1-study
session control days, Student’s t-tests were
performed. We performed t-tests separately
for each participant as well as using data
pooled across all of the participants. For the
t-tests using pooled data, in addition to using
the raw data, we also performed t-tests after
we had first transformed the data from each
participant into z-scores in order to
standardize differences in averages and
variability seen between the participants in
their data and thus make them more
comparable. An average difference between
conditions was considered statistically
significant if, using a one-tailed distribution
(i.e., to determine if there is a difference
between groups in a specific direction), the
probability of its random occurrence (p) was
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< .05 (i.e., less than 5% of the time expected
by chance alone).
3. Results
3.1 Correlational Study Results
As shown in Table 1, we found that the
characteristics of study time we examined
(total study time, study session frequency,
study session duration, and study session
spacing) and ratings of anxiety-depression
on a subjective scale were significantly
correlated with memory retention. All other
predictors showed no significant correlation
with memory retention.
We found no support for the hypothesis
that sleeping more would be associated with
an increase in memory retention. Sleep
amount was not significantly correlated with
the number of words recalled for any single
participant (all r ≤ 0.70, all p ≥ .08) nor
when using either pooled raw data (r = 0.22,
p = 0.25; see Figure 1) or pooled
standardized data (r = 0.24, p = 0.22; see
Figure 2).
We found mixed support for the
hypothesis that increased anxiety-depression
would be associated with a decrease in
memory retention. Anxiety-depression
measured indirectly by urination duration
was significantly correlated with the number
of words recalled in one participant (r = 0.77, p = 0.04; for all other participants
absolute r ≤ 0.44, p ≥ 0.34) but was not
significantly correlated when using either
pooled raw data (r = 0.04, p = 0.85; see
Figure 3) or pooled standardized data (r = 0.17, p = 0.39; see Figure 4). Anxietydepression measured indirectly by heart rate
was not significantly correlated with the
number of words recalled for any single
participant (all r ≤ 0.72, p ≥ 0.07) nor when
using either pooled raw data (r = -0.15, p =
0.45; see Figure 5) or pooled standardized

data (r = -0.21, p = 0.28; see Figure 6).
However, we did observe a significant
correlation between anxiety-depression
measured directly on a subjective scale and
the number of words recalled in one
participant (r =-0.86, p = 0.009; for all other
participants r ≤ -.59, p ≥ 0.06) and when
using either pooled raw data (r = -0.64, p
=.0001; see Figure 7) or pooled standardized
data (r = -.72, p =.000005; see Figure 8).
We found no support for the hypothesis
that an increase in physical activity would be
associated with an increase in memory
retention. Time spent physically active was
not significantly correlated with the number
of words recalled for any single participant
(all r ≤ 0.75, all p ≥ 0.05) nor when using
either pooled raw data (r = -0.01, p =0.94;
see Figure 9) or pooled standardized data (r
= 0.14, p = 0.48; see Figure 10). Similarly,
the intensity of physical activity was not
significantly correlated with the number of
words recalled for any single participant (all
r ≤ 0.74, all p ≥ 0.06) nor when using either
pooled raw data (r = -0.06, p = 0.75; see
Figure 11) or pooled standardized data (r =
0.24, p = 0.22; see Figure 12).
Support was found across the different
characteristics of study time measured in
this study for the hypothesis that an increase
in study time would be associated with an
increase in memory retention. The data for
the overall study time had the strongest
correlation with the number of words
recalled, showing a significant correlation in
one participant (r = 0.84, p = 0.01; for all
other participants r ≤ 0.75, p ≥ 0.05), a trend
towards significance when using pooled raw
data (r = 0.35, p = 0.07; see Figure 13), and
a highly significant correlation when using
pooled standardized data (r = 0.76; p =
0.0000007; see Figure 14). Both the average
duration and frequency of individual study
sessions contributed to this association since
they were each also significantly correlated
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with memory retention, albeit to lesser
degree. The average duration of study
sessions was not significantly correlated
with the number of words recalled for any
single participant (all r ≤ 0.72, all p ≥ 0.07)
nor when using pooled raw data (r = 0.37, p
= 0.05; see Figure 15), but was significant
when using pooled standardized data (r =
0.38, p = 0.048; see Figure 16). The
frequency of study sessions was
significantly correlated with the number of
words recalled for one participant (r = 0.85,
p = 0.01), not significantly correlated when
using pooled raw data (r = 0.25, p = 0.21;
see Figure 17), and highly significantly
correlated when using pooled standardized
data (r = 0.65, p = 0.0001; see Figure 18).
The spacing of studying was significantly
correlated with the number of words recalled
for one participant (r = 0.76, p = 0.04; for all
other participants r ≤ 0.55, p ≥ 0.22), not
significantly correlated when using pooled
raw data (r = 0.27; p = 0.17; see Figure 19),
and significantly correlated when using
pooled standardized data (r = 0.42; p = 0.03;
see Figure 20).
According to the pooled standardized
data, the variable that demonstrated the
strongest correlation with memory retention
(r = 0.76) was the overall time spent
studying.
3.2 Experimental Study Results
As shown in Table 2, a significant
increase in memory retention was found
with an increase in study time from 5
minutes on control days to 15 minutes on
experimental days. Statistically significant
differences between these conditions were
seen using every single participant’s data
(all p ≤ 0.017) and when using either pooled
raw data (p = 0.000003; see Figure 21) or
pooled standardized data (p = 0.00000004;
see Figure 22).

To ensure this relationship between study
time and memory recall was not artifact of
anxiety-depression as a confounding
variable, we also recorded self-reported
anxiety-depression levels on control and
experimental days. As shown in Table 3, no
significant differences were found in the
level of anxiety-depression between control
and experimental days. Statistically
significant differences were not found
between these conditions seen using any
single participant’s data (all p ≤ 0.05),
pooled raw data (p = 0.50; see Figure 23), or
pooled standardized data (p = 0.49; see
Figure 24).
4. Discussion
4.1 Summary of Results
Based on previous research, we
hypothesized that levels of memory
retention could be predicted by four
variables: sleep, anxiety-depression,
physical activity, and study time. Data
pooled and standardized across participants
in our correlational study supported the
predicted relationships of memory retention
with anxiety-depression when measured on a
subjective scale (Hypothesis #2) and with
study time (Hypothesis #4) but not with
sleep (Hypothesis #1) nor with physical
activity (Hypothesis #3). The results of our
experimental study established a causal role
of study time upon memory retention.
4.2 Relation of Results to Past Research
For the hypothesis that as sleep increases
so will memory retention, our results have
shown that memory retention was not
related to the amount of sleep someone had.
This result is in contradiction to the study
done by Cousins et al. (2019) since their
findings suggested that with less sleep the
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less the student was able to retain when
learning a new topic. Some possible reasons
for this discrepancy in results could be the
environment in which both studies took
place. Our correlational study's sleep amount
was tracked based on the amount of sleep
each participant would get during a regular
week in their life. This means the amount of
sleep each participant got may be the
amount they needed, or on days where it was
not, the lack of sleep did not occur for the
duration of the study. In the case of the
study done by Cousins et al. (2019), the
students were deprived of their regular sleep
schedule for a week straight, creating an
environment in which they were consistently
exposed to sleep deprivation. This may have
had a greater effect on memory retention
than a day-to-day fluctuation of hours slept
would have.
For the hypothesis that increased anxietydepression would be associated with lower
memory retention, we had mixed results
based on the three types of anxietydepression measurements we took in our
correlational study. The correlation of
subjective scale of felt anxiety-depression
with memory retention supports previous
research (Darcet et al., 2014) showing that
an animal model of anxiety-depression,
produced by giving mice heightened cortisol
levels, had less memory retention. However,
our data on heart rate and urine did not show
a significant correlation with the retention of
memory. This difference could be due to the
fact that our subjective mood of anxietydepression is a greater indicator of how
much or little we will recall than our
physical autonomic systems will display
(our heart rate up to a certain point). The
mice in the Darcet et al. (2014) study were
given multiple cognitive and physical
memory tasks to complete, in comparison to
our research method of 20 words given in
the morning and then recalled in the

evening. Both studies show that when
anxiety-depression is present, memory
retention is hindered. Because of this
correlational result we included the same
measuring scale in the experimental phase of
the research to determine if the effects of
anxiety-depression would impact the results
of our memory on control and experimental
days as we altered our study duration
between these days. The findings were that
anxiety-depression was not able to account
for the differences in memory retention we
observed between experimental and control
days. Because we did not experimentally
manipulate anxiety-depression as an
independent variable, we suggest further
research be given to directly test memory
under unaltered calm states of mind/body
versus highly anxious mind/body states in
order to examine whether a possible causal
relationship exists between anxietydepression and memory retention
For the hypothesis that a higher amount
and intensity of physical activity performed
would increase memory retention, the data
negated the correlation. This result conflicts
with the findings of Van der Borght et al.
(1997) in which it is suggested that physical
activity has a positive correlation with
memory retention and recall. We can think
of two possible rationales for these
contradicting results. First, the Van der
Borght et al. (1997) study was conducted
using rats in a controlled environment in
which all possible confounding variables
were controlled for. This would lead the
mice to only have the variable of physical
activity to measure and might lead to a more
accurate representation of the correlation
between physical activity and memory
retention. Second, the length of our
correlational study was 7 days on 4 subjects,
whereas the study by Van der Borght et al.
(1997) spanned 3 weeks on 32 subjects. The
limitation of time studied and the sample
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size may have hindered the ability to find a
true correlation. The hypothesis was not
supported in the end.
The hypothesis based on the Sisti, et al.
(2007) study predicted that there would be
an increase in memory retention associated
with increases in study duration, frequency,
and spacing. This was supported based on
our correlational study results. Because our
correlational research had examined four
variables of study (overall time, session
duration, session frequency and session
spacing), we were able to distinguish overall
study time as the study characteristics most
strongly related to memory retention. We
then focused our experimental study to
determine whether increased time spent
studying would increase recall. The results
showed that with more time studied, more
words were recalled. This confirms that
increasing duration of time studied was in
fact an indicator of better memory retention.
Unfortunately, we were not able to avoid
placebo effects in our experimental study
since there was no way participants could
not know the amount of time they had spent
studying. By including the subjective
anxiety-depression mood scale we hoped to
shed light on whether it had a confounding
effect upon any differences between
participants' memory outcomes other than
study time. Taking into consideration the
daily fluctuations of schedules, the
participants stayed as close to the given
timeframe for study times as possible, and
the results of the experimental data showed
significance for increased study periods to
exhibit an increase in memory. In future
studies of this hypothesis, the specified
Time, Spacing and Duration could be
followed more precisely, and each
participant could have similar schedules
during each day of research to lessen outside
factors that may affect the results of the
study.

4.3 Implications of Results
The practical implications of these results
are relevant to students at any level of
education and also to people looking to
increase overall memory. Attending school
means learning, processing and retaining the
information given at lectures and within
lessons, putting importance on the learner's
study habits and lifestyle. Outside of the
realm of education, these results could have
meaning to anyone wants to improve
memory of information in their day-to-day
activities, in the workplace, or when
remembering any new or relevant
information. Being curious to understand
what factors may increase or decrease the
ability to retain information for exams, tests,
papers, assignments, and overall knowledge
of the subject being studied, we chose to
observe a variety of factors that we predicted
may have an effect. The data results showed
very little correlation to any of the
physiological measures (i.e., heart rate,
urination, sleep, exercise). However, the
data did show that study duration and
perceived anxiety-depression levels were the
primary predictors of better or worse
retention of the 20 words we were given
each day to recall. This study was originally
conducted so that the four participants could
find how to better retain and recall
information to become better, more
successful students. The research data
collected found that the greatest factor was
increasing the overall study time (study
duration) to improve memory retention.
Further experimental studies could be done
manipulating levels of anxiety-depression to
test its causal influence on memory
retention. Our results are insightful for
anyone looking to improve their memory
skills, as we see that it takes time to encode
new information and hold these ideas in
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memory to be used later. Our educational
careers and our daily memory recall could
be enriched by utilizing the data gained in
this research by taking extra time to study,
whether for a college course, the grocer list,
or to remember a new person's name.
References
Cousins, J. N., Wong, K. F., & Chee, M. W.
L. (2019). Multi-night sleep restriction
impairs long-term retention of factual
knowledge in adolescents. Journal of
Adolescent Health, 65(4), 549–557.
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jadohealth.2019.
04.030
Darcet, F., Mendez-David, I., Tritschler, L.,
Gardier, A. M., Guilloux, J.-P., & David,
D. J. (2014). Learning and memory
impairments in a neuroendocrine mouse

model of anxiety/depression. Frontiers in
Behavioral Neuroscience, 8.
https://doi.org/10.3389/fnbeh.2014.00136
Sisti, H. M., Glass, A. L., & Shors, T. J.
(2007). Neurogenesis and the spacing
effect: Learning over time enhancing
memory and the survival of new neurons.
Learning & Memory, 14(5), 368–375.
https://doiorg.libsecure.camosun.bc.ca:2443/10.110
1/lm.488707
Van der Borght, K., Havekes, R., Bos, T.,
Eggen, B. J., & Van der Zee, E. A.
(2007). Exercise improves memory
acquisition and retrieval in the Y-maze
task: Relationship with hippocampal
neurogenesis. Behavioral Neuroscience,
121(2), 324–334.
https://doi.org/10.1037/07357044.121.2.324

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Table 1
Correlation for study Variables

Variables

Sleep amount &
memory retention
Urination duration &
memory retention
Heart rate & memory
retention
Self-reported anxietydepression &
memory retention
Physical activity time
& memory
retention
Physical activity
intensity & memory
retention
Overall study time &
memory retention
Study session
duration & memory
retention
Study session
frequency &
memory retention
Study spacing &
memory retention

Pooled
standardized
data

Participant
#1

Participant
#2

Participant
#3

Participant
#4

Pooled raw
data

r

n

r

n

r

n

r

n

r

n

r

n

-0.11

7

0.70

7

-0.28

7

0.65

7

0.22

28

0.24

28

0.19

7

0.35

7

-0.44

7

-0.77*

7

0.04

28

-0.17

28

-0.60

7

-0.43

7

-0.53

7

0.72

7

-0.15

28

-0.21

28

-0.59

7

-0.71

7

-0.86*

7

-0.74

7

-0.64*

28

-0.72*

28

0.00

7

0.75

7

-0.60

7

0.43

7

-0.01

28

0.14

28

0.30

7

0.74

7

0.00

7

-0.08

7

-0.06

28

0.24

28

0.84*

7

0.75

7

0.71

7

0.73

7

0.35

28

0.76*

28

0.52

7

0.72

7

0.13

7

0.14

7

0.37

28

0.38*

28

0.62

7

0.39

7

0.85*

7

0.74

7

0.25

28

0.65*

28

0.55

7

0.41

7

-0.06

7

0.76*

7

0.27

28

0.42*

28

* p < .05.

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Table 2
Descriptive Statistics for Memory Retention Across Different Study Times

Condition

Statistic

Participant
#1

Participant
#2

Participant
#3

Participant
#4

Pooled
raw
data

Pooled
standardized
data

5 minutes

M

13.00*

13.75*

12.25*

7.50*

11.63*

0.74*

of study

SD

1.63

4.27

2.22

2.65

3.59

0.63

time 3

n

16

16

16

16

16

16

5 minutes

M

4.25

5.75

7.25

3.50

5.19

-0.74

of study

SD

4.19

3.40

2.06

1.29

3.04

0.56

time 1

n

16

16

16

16

16

16

times per
day

time per
day

Note. M, SD, and n, represent mean, standard deviation, and sample size, respectively. Number of
words recalled out of 20 was used for the values shown above.
* p < .05 for comparison of 5 minutes of study time 3 times per day with its respective 5 minutes of
study time 1 time per day.

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Table 3
Descriptive Statistics for Anxiety-Depression Across Different Study Times

Condition

Statistic

Participant
#1

Participant Participant
#2
#3

Participant
#4

Pooled Pooled
raw standardized
data
data

5 minutes

M

4.00

2.13

2.00

3.75

2.97

-0.01

of study

SD

0.82

0.63

1.41

0.50

1.24

0.98

time 3
times per

n

16

16

16

16

16

16

5 minutes

M

3.75

3.13

2.00

3.00

2.97

0.01

of study
time 1

SD
n

0.5
16

0.85
16

0.82
16

1.41
16

1.07
16

0.96
16

day

time per
day
Note. M, SD, and n, represent mean, standard deviation, and sample size, respectively. Level of
anxiety-depression on a 1-5 subjective scale (where 1 = none and 5 = incapacitating) was used for the
values shown above.
* p < .05 for comparison of 5 minutes of study time 3 times per day with its respective 5 minutes of
study time 1 time per day.

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Figure 1
Association Between Sleep Amount and Memory Retention Using Pooled Raw Data

Notes. Marker colour differentiates participants: red = participant #1, orange = participant #2, yellow =
participant #3, green = participant #4. Some data might not be visible in the figure due to overlapping
markers.

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Figure 2
Association Between Sleep Amount and Memory Retention Using Pooled Standardized Data

Notes. Marker colour differentiates participants: red = participant #1, orange = participant #2, yellow =
participant #3, green = participant #4. Some data might not be visible in the figure due to overlapping
markers.

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Figure 3
Association Between Urination Duration and Memory Retention Using Pooled Raw Data

Notes. Marker colour differentiates participants: red = participant #1, orange = participant #2, yellow =
participant #3, green = participant #4. Some data might not be visible in the figure due to overlapping
markers.

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Figure 4
Association Duration of Urination and Memory Retention Using Pooled Standardized Data

Notes. Marker colour differentiates participants: red = participant #1, orange = participant #2, yellow =
participant #3, green = participant #4. Some data might not be visible in the figure due to overlapping
markers.

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Figure 5
Association Between Heart Rate and Memory Retention Using Pooled Raw Data

Notes. Marker colour differentiates participants: red = participant #1, orange = participant #2, yellow
= participant #3, green = participant #4. Some data might not be visible in the figure due to
overlapping markers.

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Figure 6
Association Between Heart Rate and Memory Retention Using Pooled Standardized Data

Notes. Marker colour differentiates participants: red = participant #1, orange = participant #2, yellow =
participant #3, green = participant #4. Some data might not be visible in the figure due to overlapping
markers.

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Figure 7
Association Between Self-Reported Anxiety Depression Scale and Memory Retention Using Pooled
Raw Data

Notes. Marker colour differentiates participants: red = participant #1, orange = participant #2, yellow
= participant #3, green = participant #4. Some data might not be visible in the figure due to
overlapping markers.

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Figure 8
Association Between Self-Reported Anxiety Depression Scale and Memory Retention Using Pooled
Standardized Data

Notes. Marker colour differentiates participants: red = participant #1, orange = participant #2, yellow =
participant #3, green = participant #4. Some data might not be visible in the figure due to overlapping
markers.

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Figure 9
Association Between Hours of Physical Activity and Memory Retention Using Pooled Raw Data

Notes. Marker colour differentiates participants: red = participant #1, orange = participant #2, and
yellow = participant #3 green = participant #4. Some data might not be visible in the figure due to
overlapping markers.

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Figure 10
Association Between Hours of Physical Activity and Memory Retention Using Pooled Standardized
Data

Notes. Marker colour differentiates participants: red = participant #1, orange = participant #2, and
yellow = participant #3, green = participant #4. Some data might not be visible in the figure due to
overlapping markers.

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Figure 11
Association Between Intensity of Physical Activity and Memory Using Pooled Raw Data

Notes. Marker colour differentiates participants: red = participant #1, orange = participant #2, and
yellow = participant #3, green = participant #4. Some data might not be visible in the figure due to
overlapping markers.

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Figure 12
Association Between Intensity of Physical Activity and Memory Using Pooled Standardized Data

Notes. Marker colour differentiates participants: red = participant #1, orange = participant #2, and
yellow = participant #3, green = participant #4. Some data might not be visible in the figure due to
overlapping markers.

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Figure 13
Association Between Overall Study Time and Memory Retention Using Pooled Raw Data

Notes. Marker colour differentiates participants: red = participant #1, orange = participant #2, yellow
= participant #3, and green = participant #4. Some data might not be visible in the figure due to
overlapping markers.

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Figure 14
Association Between Overall Study Time and Memory Retention Using Pooled Standardized Data
\

Notes. Marker colour differentiates participants: red = participant #1, orange = participant #2, yellow =
participant #3, and green = participant #4. Some data might not be visible in the figure due to overlapping
markers.

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Figure 15
Association Between Study Session Duration and Memory Retention Using Pooled Raw Data

Notes. Marker colour differentiates participants: red = participant #1, orange = participant #2, and
yellow = participant #3, green = participant #4. Some data might not be visible in the figure due to
overlapping markers.

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Figure 16
Association Between Study Session Duration and Memory Retention Using Pooled Standardized Data

Notes. Marker colour differentiates participants: red = participant #1, orange = participant #2, and
yellow = participant #3, green = participant #4. Some data might not be visible in the figure due to
overlapping markers.

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Figure 17
Association Between Study Session Frequency and Memory Retention Using Pooled Raw Data

Notes. Marker colour differentiates participants: red = participant #1, orange = participant #2, and yellow =
participant #3, green = participant #4. Some data might not be visible in the figure due to overlapping
markers.

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Figure 18
Association Between Study Session Frequency and Memory Retention Using Pooled Standardized Data

Notes. Marker colour differentiates participants: red = participant #1, orange = participant #2, and
yellow = participant #3, green = participant #4. Some data might not be visible in the figure due to
overlapping markers.

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Figure 19
Association Between Study Spacing and Memory Retention Using Pooled Raw Data

Notes. Marker colour differentiates participants: red = participant #1, orange = participant #2, yellow
= participant #3, and green = participant #4. Some data might not be visible in the figure due to
overlapping markers.

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Figure 20
Association Between Study Spacing and Memory Retention Using Pooled Standardized Data

Notes. Marker colour differentiates participants: red = participant #1, orange = participant #2, yellow
= participant #3, and green = participant #4. Some data might not be visible in the figure due to
overlapping markers.

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Figure 21
Average Memory Retention Across Different Study Time Conditions Using Pooled Raw Data

Notes. Memory retention scores are shown for the study period of 5 minutes 3 times per day and the
study period of 5 minutes 1 time per day conditions using pooled raw data from all participants.
Errors bars show ± 95% confidence levels. Overlapping scatterplot shows data from each participant.
Marker colour differentiates participants: red = participant #1, orange = participant #2, yellow =
participant #3, and green= participant 4.

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Figure 22
Average Memory Retention Across Different Study Time Conditions Using Pooled Standardized Data

Notes. Memory retention scores are shown for the study period of 5 minutes 3 times per day and the
study period of 5 minutes 1 time per day conditions using pooled standardized data from all
participants. Errors bars show ± 95% confidence levels. Overlapping scatterplot shows data from
each participant. Marker colour differentiates participants: red = participant #1, orange = participant
#2, and yellow = participant #3, and green= participant 4.

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Figure 23
Average Anxiety-Depression Across Different Study Time Conditions Using Pooled Raw Data

Notes. Anxiety-depression scores are shown for the study period of 5 minutes 3 times per day and the
study period of 5 minutes 1 time per day conditions using pooled raw data from all participants.
Errors bars show ± 95% confidence levels. Overlapping scatterplot shows data from each participant.
Marker colour differentiates participants: red = participant #1, orange = participant #2, and yellow =
participant #3, and green= participant 4.

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Figure 24
Average Anxiety-Depression Across Different Study Time Conditions Using Pooled Standardized
Data

Notes. Anxiety-depression scores are shown for the study period of 5 minutes 3 times per day and the
study period of 5 minutes 1 time per day conditions using pooled standardized data from all
participants. Errors bars show ± 95% confidence levels. Overlapping scatter plot shows data from
each participant. Marker colour differentiates participants: red = participant #1, orange = participant
#2, and yellow = participant #3, and green= participant 4.

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Appendix
Bouchard Physical Activity Record

62