Mental fatigue and the efficiency of information processing in relation to work times

Abstract Mental fatigue was studied by analysing performance and mental effort in a memory search task in relation to the temporal structuring of preceding work periods. Performance was measured by reaction time and error rate. Mental effort was measured via spectral analysis of the 0.10 Hz component in the heart rhythm signal. It was shown that subjects protected their performance by spending more effort in the unfavorable conditions: after several hours of work and after continuous work without short rest breaks. In the most unfavorable condition, after 8 h of work combined with sleep loss, the efficiency of information processing broke down. Performance could no longer be protected by invested effort. This breakdown phenomenon is interpreted as a serious sign of mental fatigue. Relevance to industry The present study describes a method of analysing mental fatigue, based on the analysis of the performance related to the mental effort invested in a standard memory-search task. This method could be applied in the practical evaluations of work systems.

[1]  Peter Freebody,et al.  Research Report No. 1 , 1989 .

[2]  L. Mulder.  Assessment of cardiovascular reactivity by means of spectral analysis , 1988 .

[3]  D E Broadbent,et al.  Is a fatigue test now possible? , 1979, Ergonomics.

[4]  S. Campbell.  7 – Effects of Sleep and Circadian Rhythms on Performance , 1992 .

[5]  D. Kahneman,et al.  Attention and Effort , 1973 .

[6]  Theo Meijman,et al.  Time and behavior at work. , 1994 .

[7]  Walter Schneider,et al.  Controlled and automatic human information processing: II. Perceptual learning, automatic attending and a general theory. , 1977 .

[8]  G. Mulder.  The Concept and Measurement of Mental Effort , 1986 .

[9]  A. Sanders.  Towards a model of stress and human performance. , 1983, Acta psychologica.

[10]  M. Coles,et al.  Energetics and Human Information Processing , 1986 .

[11]  T. Åkerstedt,et al.  Sleepiness as a consequence of shift work. , 1988, Sleep.

[12]  S. F. Bartlett.  Psychological criteria of fatigue , 1953 .

[13]  Jans Aasman,et al.  Human Mental Workload , 1988 .

[14]  F. Bartlett.  Fatigue Following Highly Skilled Work , 1941, Nature.

[15]  James M. Vanderplas,et al.  Symposium on fatigue , 1954 .

[16]  G. Krueger.  Sustained work, fatigue, sleep loss and performance: A review of the issues , 1989 .

[17]  E. Kraepelin,et al.  Ueber geistige Arbeit , 1894 .

[18]  K. J. Vicente,et al.  Spectral Analysis of Sinus Arrhythmia: A Measure of Mental Effort , 1987, Human factors.

[19]  Andrew P. Smith,et al.  Handbook of human performance , 1992 .

[20]  M. Colligan,et al.  Extended workdays: Effects of 8-hour and 12-hour rotating shift schedules on performance, subjective alertness, sleep patterns, and psychosocial variables , 1989 .

[21]  R. Thayer.  The biopsychology of mood and arousal , 1989 .

[22]  C. A. Pearce.  Hours of Work and Output. , 1949 .

[23]  T. Meijman,et al.  The impact of abnormal hours of work on various modes of information processing: a process model on human costs of performance , 1987 .

[24]  T. Monk.  Sleep, sleepiness, and performance , 1991 .

[25]  Raja Parasuraman,et al.  Varieties of attention , 1984 .

[26]  G. R. J. Hockey.  A State Control Theory of Adaptation and Individual Differences in Stress Management , 1986 .

[27]  R. Hockey.  Stress and fatigue in human performance , 1984 .

[28]  E. Thorndike,et al.  MENTAL FATIGUE. , 1900, Science.

[29]  P. Sargant Florence.  Economics of Fatigue and Unrest and the Efficiency of Labour in English and American Industry , 1973 .

[30]  G. Mulder.  The heart of mental effort , 1980 .

[31]  Daniel Gopher,et al.  On the Economy of the Human Processing System: A Model of Multiple Capacity. , 1977 .

[32]  Edward L. Thorndike,et al.  The curve of work. , 1912 .

[33]  J Daniel,et al.  Oral temperature and performance in 8 h and 12 h shifts. , 1989, Ergonomics.

[34]  J Aasman,et al.  Operator Effort and the Measurement of Heart-Rate Variability , 1987, Human factors.

[35]  R. Dodge,et al.  Mental Work: A study in psychodynamics. , 1913 .

[36]  G. Robert J. Hockey,et al.  Cognitive-energetical control mechanisms in the management of work demands and psychological health. , 1993 .

[37]  A. Craig,et al.  11 – Symptoms of Acute and Chronic Fatigue , 1992 .

[38]  H Harmen Kragt,et al.  Enhancing Industrial Performance , 1992 .

[39]  R. Cohen.  The Neuropsychology of Attention , 1993, Critical Issues in Neuropsychology.

[40]  Ronald A. Cohen,et al.  Response Selection and the Executive Control of Attention , 1993 .

[41]  Emery R. Hayhurst.  Rest Pauses in Industry. , 1924, Canadian Medical Association journal.