Sleep Deprivation Study

The study Auditory Attention and Comprehension During a Simulated Night Shift: Effects of Task Characteristics is about negative impacts night shifts and sleep deprivation have on a person. Their logic is that night shifts lead to sleep deprivation which in turn negatively affects performance. Language processing is also observed during the study as well. “Human endogenous circadian rhythms interact with shiftwork resulting in sleep deprivation which negatively affects performance (Reinberg, Ashkenazi, 2008) and health (Arendt, 2010). The purpose of the study was to better understand the impact of sleep deprivation has on working the night shift and vice versa. The authors hypothesized that people that work the night shift suffer from a decrease in comprehension, a decrease in their overall health, and lack of attention due to sleep deprivation. Methods There was a total of 62 participants who completed a 28-hour sleep deprivation simulated work shift. They were tested at different times during their simulated night shift on language tasks, and vigilance tasks. They did these tests at least four times during their night shift to see how their sleep deprivation was affecting them. “One way to help workers cope is to implement methods that could keep necessary tasks more interesting. Another method is to provide a means for the workers to stay better engaged and more focused” (Jennings, McCubbin, Pilche, Phillips 2016). A r e v i e w o f a s t u d y b y C l e m s o n U n i v e r s i t y : A u d i t o r y A t t e n t i o n a n d C o m p r e h e n s i o n D u r i n g a S i m u l a t e d N i g h t S h i f t : E f f e c t s o f T a s k C h a r a c t e r i s t i c s P a g e | 3 Results Auditory attention, comprehension, sleep, and vigilance were all negatively affected due to working at night. Night shifts caused the participants to lose much needed sleep therefore negatively affected those characteristics. If they were tested on difficult material then the participants had a tough time with the material. All participants appeared to consider easier material more appealing because to them it was more appealing than dealing with the hard material. The following are results of the study:  “Auditory attention and language comprehension on a dual task significantly decreased across a simulated night shift under sleep deprivation conditions” (Jennings, McCubbin, Pilche, Phillips 2016).  “The content of the auditory material affected performance where interesting and easy passages resulted in better performance at night while less interesting and more difficult passages resulted in a decrease in performance” (Jennings, McCubbin, Pilche, Phillips 2016).  “Better integrating …show more content…
Weather issues were also minimal (besides fog) compared to the afternoon shift. If you had coffee on hand, you could make it through your night shift. We were based out of Houston, Texas so afternoon thunderstorms, etc. were a daily occurrence which would cause drama for everyone during the day shift. The worst part about the night shift was getting up at midnight to go to work. Other than that we stayed busy at a good pace. Back then I was happy to work the night shift because it was a less stressful situation; however, after reading this study I am glad that I no longer deal with morning shifts that begin at
1am. Once my night shift had ended I was completely exhausted especially when it came to the weekends. Friends and family would always ask if I was available to do things in the afternoon on my days off, but their afternoon was my midnight because of working the night shift. During their daytime I was fast asleep. I can relate to this study and I understand the problems that arise.
I have always had sleep issues, but it seemed to get worse after the night shifts. Little sleep can have devastating impacts.
It is very important for a company to take care of their employees and to understand