Sleep Deprivation

Paper Summary:

This paper describes a scientific experiment where the effects of sleep deprivation are observed over a four-day period in a closed environment simulating a spaceship. It looks at how sleep deprivation can have a negative influence on people's abilities to interact as a team, focus on complex tasks and react quickly and decisively to danger - thus it represents a great hazard to the safety of the crew on a long space voyage. It hypothesises that lack of sleep over a period of time may result in a severe deterioration in people's effectiveness in the workplace and interaction with other people. By utilising logic tests, surveys of emotional state of team members and tasks requiring focus and concentration it was found that sleep deprivation severely affected team member's ability to function properly.

Outline
Abstract
Introduction
Methods
Results
Discussion

From the Paper:

"Scientists do not know why we sleep. Generally sleep is studied by testing people's though processes and moods during various degrees of sleepiness and wakefulness. It is widely accepted that sleep has a positive and negative effect on the body and being deprived of it is detrimental at least in the short term to one's mental and physical health. Being involved in high stress and intensive projects such as space missions requires team members who are trained and physiologically capable of coping with less than average sleep times. Running a spacecraft on a three year return journey to Mars, with all the complex life support systems to maintain ultimately results in crew members not getting an optimum amount of sleep. However, this lack of sleep cannot be allowed to affect them too drastically as the smallest error in such a sensitive environment could spell doom for all the crew. (Pathways to Psychology, 1997) "

Sample of Sources Used:

• Borbely, A. "Secrets of Sleep", Basic Books, New York, 1986
• Dement, W.C. "Some must watch while others sleep", Norton, New York, 1976
• Marieb, E. "Human Anatomy and Physiology", 4th Edition, Benjamin/Cummings Publishing Company, Menlo Park, California, 1998
• Sternberg, R.J. "Pathways to Psychology", Harcourt Brace College Publishers, Orlando, 1997

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• Cause and Effect Essay # 106438 : "The Effects of Sleep Deprivation on Children"
• Analytical Essay # 130755 : "Sleep Deprivation: A College Epidemic"
• Essay # 85167 : "Sleep Deprivation and Its Effects on Teens"
• Analytical Essay # 126640 : "Sleep Deprivation and Academic Effects"

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