The role of sleep deprivation and fatigue in the perception of task difficulty and use of heuristics

Objectives: This study investigated the effects of sleep deprivation on perception of task difficulty and use of heuristics (mental shortcuts) compared to naturally-experienced sleep at home. Methods: Undergraduate students were screened and assigned through block-random a...

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Main Authors: Mindy Engle-Friedman, Gina Marie Mathew, Anastasia Martinova, Forrest Armstrong, Viktoriya Konstantinov
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Thieme Revinter Publicações Ltda.
Series:Sleep Science
Subjects:
Online Access:http://sleepscience.org.br/export-pdf/450/v11n2a05.pdf
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author Mindy Engle-Friedman
Gina Marie Mathew
Anastasia Martinova
Forrest Armstrong
Viktoriya Konstantinov
author_facet Mindy Engle-Friedman
Gina Marie Mathew
Anastasia Martinova
Forrest Armstrong
Viktoriya Konstantinov
author_sort Mindy Engle-Friedman
collection DOAJ
description Objectives: This study investigated the effects of sleep deprivation on perception of task difficulty and use of heuristics (mental shortcuts) compared to naturally-experienced sleep at home. Methods: Undergraduate students were screened and assigned through block-random assignment to Naturally-Experienced Sleep (NES; n=19) or Total Sleep Deprivation (TSD; n=20). The next morning, reported fatigue, perception of task difficulty, and use of “what-is-beautiful-is-good,” “greedy algorithm,” and “speed-accuracy trade-off” heuristics were assessed. Results: NES slept for an average of 354.74 minutes (SD=72.84), or 5.91 hours. TSD rated a reading task as significantly more difficult and requiring more time than NES. TSD was significantly more likely to use the greedy algorithm heuristic by skipping instructions and the what-is-beautiful-is-good heuristic by rating an unattractive consumer item with a favorable review as poor quality. Those in Total Sleep Deprivation who chose more difficult math problems made this selection to finish the task more quickly in findings approaching significance, indicating use of the speed-accuracy trade-off heuristic. Collapsed across conditions, self-reported fatigue predicted greater perceived difficulty in both the reading task and a visuo-motor task, higher quality rating for the attractive consumer item, and lower quality rating for the unattractive consumer item. Conclusions: Findings indicate sleep deprivation and fatigue increase perceptions of task difficulty, promote skipping instructions, and impair systematic evaluation of unappealing stimuli compared to naturally-experienced sleep.
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spelling doaj.art-a32412f4dd86495ca68e2cdfbb9e68752024-02-02T18:11:55ZengThieme Revinter Publicações Ltda.Sleep Science1984-06591984-0063112748410.5935/1984-0063.20180016The role of sleep deprivation and fatigue in the perception of task difficulty and use of heuristicsMindy Engle-Friedman0Gina Marie Mathew1Anastasia Martinova2Forrest Armstrong3Viktoriya Konstantinov4 Baruch College, City University of New York, Psychology - New York - NY - USA. Baruch College, City University of New York, Psychology - New York - NY - USA. Baruch College, City University of New York, Psychology - New York - NY - USA. Baruch College, City University of New York, Psychology - New York - NY - USA. Baruch College, City University of New York, Psychology - New York - NY - USA.Objectives: This study investigated the effects of sleep deprivation on perception of task difficulty and use of heuristics (mental shortcuts) compared to naturally-experienced sleep at home. Methods: Undergraduate students were screened and assigned through block-random assignment to Naturally-Experienced Sleep (NES; n=19) or Total Sleep Deprivation (TSD; n=20). The next morning, reported fatigue, perception of task difficulty, and use of “what-is-beautiful-is-good,” “greedy algorithm,” and “speed-accuracy trade-off” heuristics were assessed. Results: NES slept for an average of 354.74 minutes (SD=72.84), or 5.91 hours. TSD rated a reading task as significantly more difficult and requiring more time than NES. TSD was significantly more likely to use the greedy algorithm heuristic by skipping instructions and the what-is-beautiful-is-good heuristic by rating an unattractive consumer item with a favorable review as poor quality. Those in Total Sleep Deprivation who chose more difficult math problems made this selection to finish the task more quickly in findings approaching significance, indicating use of the speed-accuracy trade-off heuristic. Collapsed across conditions, self-reported fatigue predicted greater perceived difficulty in both the reading task and a visuo-motor task, higher quality rating for the attractive consumer item, and lower quality rating for the unattractive consumer item. Conclusions: Findings indicate sleep deprivation and fatigue increase perceptions of task difficulty, promote skipping instructions, and impair systematic evaluation of unappealing stimuli compared to naturally-experienced sleep.http://sleepscience.org.br/export-pdf/450/v11n2a05.pdfSleep DeprivationFatiguePerceptionHeuristicsEffort-MentalDecision MakingMotivation
spellingShingle Mindy Engle-Friedman
Gina Marie Mathew
Anastasia Martinova
Forrest Armstrong
Viktoriya Konstantinov
The role of sleep deprivation and fatigue in the perception of task difficulty and use of heuristics
Sleep Science
Sleep Deprivation
Fatigue
Perception
Heuristics
Effort-Mental
Decision Making
Motivation
title The role of sleep deprivation and fatigue in the perception of task difficulty and use of heuristics
title_full The role of sleep deprivation and fatigue in the perception of task difficulty and use of heuristics
title_fullStr The role of sleep deprivation and fatigue in the perception of task difficulty and use of heuristics
title_full_unstemmed The role of sleep deprivation and fatigue in the perception of task difficulty and use of heuristics
title_short The role of sleep deprivation and fatigue in the perception of task difficulty and use of heuristics
title_sort role of sleep deprivation and fatigue in the perception of task difficulty and use of heuristics
topic Sleep Deprivation
Fatigue
Perception
Heuristics
Effort-Mental
Decision Making
Motivation
url http://sleepscience.org.br/export-pdf/450/v11n2a05.pdf
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