The effects of age, sleep deprivation, and altitude on complex performance.

Mertens, Henry W.; Collins, William E.; Civil Aeromedical Institute

Advanced Search

Select up to three search categories and corresponding keywords using the fields to the right. Refer to the Help section for more detailed instructions.

Search our Collections & Repository

Advanced Search
Custom Query

All these words:

For very narrow results

This exact word or phrase:

When looking for a specific result

Any of these words:

Best used for discovery & interchangable words

None of these words:

Recommended to be used in conjunction with other fields

Language:

Dates

Publication Date Range:

to

Document Data

Title:

Document Type:

Library

Collection:

Series:

People

Author:

Clear All

Query Builder

Query box

Clear All

For additional assistance using the Custom Query please check out our Help Page

i

The effects of age, sleep deprivation, and altitude on complex performance.

1985-05-01
By Mertens, Henry W. ; Collins, William E.

[PDF-1.18 MB]

English

Details You May Also Like

Details:

Creators:

Mertens, Henry W. ; Collins, William E.

Mertens, Henry W. ; Collins, William E. Less -
Corporate Creators:

Civil Aeromedical Institute
Corporate Contributors:

United States. Office of Aviation Medicine
Subject/TRT Terms:

[+]

Aeronautics--Safety Measures Age Altitude Altitudes Aviation Safety Correlation (Statistics) Correlation Analysis Human Subject Testing Laboratory Tests Performance--Testing Performance Tests Sleep Deprivation Workload
Publication/ Report Number:

FAA-AM-85-3 ; DOT/FAA/AM-85/3

FAA-AM-85-3 ; DOT/FAA/AM-85/3 Less -
Resource Type:

Tech Report
Geographical Coverage:

United States
Corporate Publisher:

Civil Aerospace Medical Institute
Abstract:

Little research has been concerned with the combined effects on performance of age, sleep deprivation, and altitude. This study examined their potential interaction with laboratory tasks measuring aviation-related psychological functions.

Healthy men in two age groups, 30-39 yr (N=16) and 60- 69 yr (N=14), were evaluated for complex (time-shared) performance in the four possible combinations of two altitudes (ground level vs. 3,810 m (12,500 ft)) and two sleep conditions (sleep permitted vs. sleep deprived). Following training, performance was evaluated during 3-h test sessions in the morning and afternoon of each of 4 test days. Complex performance, measured by the Multiple Task Performance Battery (MTPB), included: monitoring of warning lights and meters, mental arithmetic, problem solving, target identification, and tracking. Workload was varied within each hour by varying the tasks performed simultaneously.

Performance was significantly lower in the older subjects, but age did not interact significantly with sleep deprivation or altitude. When subjects were rested, altitude had no effect. When subjects were sleep deprived, performance was significantly lower in general, and the greatest decrement in performance occurred at altitude. Increasing workload enhanced the interaction of sleep deprivation and altitude. The performance of older subjects tended to be more affected by increases in workload, but decrements induced by sleep deprivation and altitude did not appear to interact with age.

These findings provide empirical evidence in support of warnings in the aeromedical literature concerning greater effects of sleep deprivation as altitude increases within the general aviation range.
Format:

PDF
Collection(s):

FAA Civil Aerospace Medical Institute US Transportation Collection
Main Document Checksum:

[+]

urn:sha256:dc7f8f32b344182c701d1396d08608bf9e8d74de55545080719028cdc149ee9f
Download URL:

https://rosap.ntl.bts.gov/view/dot/21261/dot_21261_DS1.pdf
File Type:

No Additional Files

More +

The effects of age, sleep deprivation, and altitude on complex performance.

Details:

Supporting Files

You May Also Like