Abstract
Studies attempting to estimate the degree of performance degradation resulting from sleep loss typically use relatively long-duration tasks that are distinctly separate from ongoing activities. Since long-duration tasks are not practical for assessing the performance degradation induced by sleep loss in field settings, this study was designed to examine whether the results of short-duration (1-min) tasks were markedly different from those of long-duration (10-min) tasks with respect to detecting performance changes during a 54-h period of sleep loss and sustained cognitive work. Performance changes also were examined as a function of the location of tasks within work sessions by comparing performance on 1-min tasks that were placed within work sessions with those tasks that immediately followed short rest periods. The results showed that short-and long-duration tasks were equally sensitive to sleep loss. In addition, once sleep-deprivation effects began to emerge, it was found that performance on short-duration tasks within work sessions showed significantly more impairment than performance on tasks that followed rest breaks. These results suggest that task duration is not a critical factor for detecting performance degradation induced during continuous work experiments but that the location of tasks within work sessions is critical for accurately assessing expected performance.
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The authors gratefully acknowledge Marc Grushcow and NTT Systems for the development of the software necessary to conduct this experiment and Lynn Olsen for the production of the figures This paper can be obtained under DCIEM number 85-P-45. Address reprint requests to either author at the Defence and Civil Institute of Environmental Medicine, 1133 Sheppard Avenue West, P.O. Box 2000, Downsview, Ontario, Canada M3M 3B9.
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Heslegrave, R.J., Angus, R.G. The effects of task duration and work-session location on performance degradation induced by sleep loss and sustained cognitive work. Behavior Research Methods, Instruments, & Computers 17, 592–603 (1985). https://doi.org/10.3758/BF03200971
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.3758/BF03200971