“How sleep deprivation affects psychological variables related to college students’ cognitive performance,” is a Journal of American College Health (J AM COLL HEALTH) written by Pilcher JJ and Walters AS. In this article, the authors attempt to bring out a case study regarding how deprivation of sleep can affect human nature’s cognitive performance by utilizing the psychological variables related to students.
As a matter of fact, it should be noted that the authors hypothesize that sleep deprivation is such a common occurrence amongst most of the college students whose sleeping patterns are comprised of partial deprivation of sleep on certain occasions during the week, as well as, compensation patterns in which the student strive to oversleep during the weekends.
There are three questions that this study attempted to address. The first is, “does sleep loss lead to changes in self-reported levels of psychological variables related to actual performance?” Because tendencies to deprive an individual of sleep often results into increased feelings of sleep and fatigue, the authors of the article expected individuals who are sleep-deprived to record low levels of concentration, estimated performance, effort, and high levels regarding off-task recognitions.
This would be based on the ability to accurately make assessments regarding the psychological variables. Secondly, the study aimed at determining whether sleep deprivation has the power to cause significant alteration in the mood states which may have relations to the performance of an individual. In this regard, this study expected that the participants in the study would record instances of fatigue, tension, confusion, as well as, decreased vigor.
The third question in the study was related to ways of determining how sleep deprivation tend to alter the ability of people to make accurate assessments regarding particular issues, estimated performance, and effort. Various research procedures were carried out in this instance. It was expected that the individual’s decision making processes would change based on the fact that they were deprived of sleep.
This article presents various variables in the case study as demonstrated by the authors. The first is cognitive performance. This refers to a type of operation which utilizes the mental ability of an individual. Second is psychological variables. This refers to the type of variables that are related to the psychological functionality of a person (students).
Self-reports are the third variable that has been utilized by the authors of this article in their study. This refers to the individual records, highlighting the procedural performances from the students, which were taken through the case study project. The last significant variable that has been adequately used by the authors of this article is sleep deprivation.
This refers to a systematic or deliberate, infliction of torture characterized by depriving an individual of enough sleep. The sample population used in this study included 44 college students. The individual participants were expected to complete “Watson-Glaser Critical Thinking Appraisal.” This was to be done either after 8 hours of sleep or 24 hours of the instance of sleep deprivation.
Upon completion of the cognitive tasks required, the participants were expected to assist in completing two questionnaires. The first was meant to assess self-reported effort, estimated performance and effort. The second was meant to assess off-task cognitions.
The results of the research indicated a poor performance amongst the participants who were sleep-deprived as compared to the ones whose sleep patterns were unaffected in terms of cognitive task performances. However, it was observed that the participants who were sleep-deprived recorded higher rates in their efforts and concentrations compared to the participants who were non-deprived of sleep.
Additional observations also indicated that the estimated performance of sleep-deprived participants was higher compared to the non-deprived participants. As a result, the authors, basically concluded that the college administration of most educational institutions are immensely unaware about the extent of damage that sleep deprivation could have on students’ ability of completion of cognitive tasks.
In terms analysis of this work, the authors of the article have done exceptionally well in terms of collection of the relevant materials that were needed for the successful completion of the study. The layout of the research suggests that the authors thoroughly did their research. Precisely, the demonstration of proper literature and calculation of the figures in the research article suggest that this was well researched and presented.
The use of logical argumentation in terms of description of the methodology also increases the credibility of this research. It is necessary to note that the authors of this article have done extensively well to boost the confidence of the readers by the use of clear facts and figures which are verifiable. As a result, the readers have been given a chance to prove the accuracy of the study.
However, in as much as the approach, display and presentation of this research have been done well, the authors’ research is limited in terms of scope. This research covers only 44 participants from one region. Logically, this is a small population distribution to base conclusions upon. The accuracy of the deductions derived from this study would, therefore, be questioned.
In terms of applicability of the research, this study was helpful in terms of provision of useful information which has boosted the knowledge base in this field of study. This study was mainly targeting the administration of educational institutions.
The authors of the article had the intention of presenting documentary evidence of research that shows that the sleep patterns of the students are relevant and significant in terms of determining the effectiveness and overall performance of the students.
As a result, this research was intended to help in convincing the educational managers and administrators to revise the curriculum and provide a more dynamic one which would ensure that the student gets adequate time for sleep. Also, this research applies to students pursuing different courses in academic institutions in that it provides useful information that can help respective students of different institutions to plan their study schedules.
The information provided in the research would help the students to plan their activities well to ensure that their sense of effectiveness in the study and overall performance are highly maintained. Additional research in this field should involve the use of diverse categories of students to determine the effects that sleep deprivation would have on them.
This would comprise of high school, middle-level College, and university students. Diversity into this line of research would provide more reliable and accurate information.
Works Cited
Pilcher, JJ, and Walters AS. How sleep deprivation affects psychological variables related to college students’ cognitive performance. Journal of American College Health (J AM COLL HEALTH), 1997 Nov; 46(3): 121-6