THE EFFECTS OF PSYCHOLOGICAL STRESS UPON DECISION PROCESSES AND THE SPEED AND PRECISION OF TRACKING MOVEMENTS. A STUDY OF THE EFFECTS OF SLEEP DEPRIVATION AND DISTURBANCE

TWELVE YOUTHS WERE DEPRIVED OF SLEEP FOR 48 HOURS. EACH SUBJECT WAS TESTED FOR 15 MINUTES AT FOUR-HOURLY INTERVALS ON EACH OF TWO TASKS (1) OF MIRROR TRACING, AND (2) OF STEP- INPUT TRACKING, USING AN INSTRUMENT NAMED THE STRESSALYZER. THE SAME SUBJECTS WERE AGAIN TESTED ONE WEEK LATER. THEY WERE ALLOWED TO SLEEP WHENEVER THEY WISHED, BUT WERE AROUSED AT FOUR-HOURLY INTERVALS IN THE NIGHT, SOME 15 MINUTES BEFORE THE TIMES, NEAR 1 A.M. AND NEAR 5 A.M., AT WHICH TIME THEY WERE TESTED DURING THE PREVIOUS STUDY OF COMPLETE SLEEP DEPRIVATION. THE SUBJECTS' SCORES ON THE STRESSALYZER WERE COMPARED, AT THE SAME STAGE OF TESTING, IN THE TWO CONDITIONS OF SLEEP DEPRIVATION AND DISTURBED SLEEP. SLEEP DEPRIVATION OF 48 HOURS PRODUCED LITTLE OR NO DETERIORATION IN THE GROUPS PERFORMANCE IN MIRROR TRACING, BUT TRACKING ABILITY ON THE STRESSALYZER DETERIORATED SHARPLY AFTER 29 HOURS WITHOUT SLEEP, WITH A FURTHER LARGE DECREASE IN SKILL AT THE 36 HOUR STAGE OF TESTING. ON SOME SUBJECTS, DISTURBANCE OF SLEEP PRODUCED FAR MORE IMPAIREMENT THAN COMPLETE LOSS OF SLEEP, AT THE SAME STAGE IN TESTING. THE STRESSALYZER DATA INDICATED VERY LARGE DIFFERENCES AMONG INDIVIDUALS IN TOLERANCE OF STRESS, AS IN THEIR INITIAL TRACKING ABILITY. /CGRA/

• Supplemental Notes:
  • 34 Pp, 15 FIG, 5 TAB, 7 REF
• Corporate Authors:

  National Research Council, Ottawa /Can

  ,    
• Authors:
  • Gibbs, C B
  • Leonardo, R
  • Rowlands, G F
• Publication Date: 1968-7

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Decision making; Human factors; Psychological aspects; Sleep; Structural analysis; Testing; Tracking systems
• Uncontrolled Terms: Tracking
• Subject Areas: Highways; Safety and Human Factors;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 00222646
• Record Type: Publication
• Source Agency: CANADIAN GOOD ROADS ASSOCIATION
• Files: TRIS
• Created Date: Jan 26 1970 12:00AM