Effects of sleep deprivation on human performance

Objective To investigate the effects of sleep deprivation(SD) on human performance. Method 8 healthy male college students participated the test . During 26 h of continuous awakeness (from 6:00 to 8:00 the next day),the volunteers were demanded to perform a battery of tests at 9 different time (7:00、12:00、16:00、20:00、0:00、2:00、4:00、6:00 、8:00). The tests include:(1) single task: aural Oddball response,the response time(RT 1)and correct rate(CR 1) were recorded;(2) dual tasks:manual tracking and aural Oddball response, the response time(RT 2), tracking error(ER)and correct rate(CR 2) were recorded;(3)The Stanford sleepiness scale and subjective ratings of task difficulty access. Result SD had significant effects on CT 1,CT 2 and ER(P=0.0001,P=0.00001,P=0.0004 respectively);SD increased RT 1,RT 2,ER at night time. SD had significant effects on SR,SSS score(P=0.0001,P=0.0000 respectively);SD increased SR,SSS score at night time. Since the subjects changed their response strategy ,CR 1 and CR 2 were not influenced by SD at night time. Conclusion SD has significant effects on response time,tracking error ,subjective difficulty of cognitive tasks and subjective sleepiness.