Citation

Laslett HR. J. Exp. Psychol. 1924; 7(1): 45-58.

Copyright

(Copyright © 1924, American Psychological Association)

DOI

10.1037/h0070814

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

The purpose of this experiment was to study the effects of loss of sleep upon the ability to do mental work ranging from simple rote memory through substitution-tests to tests in analogies which required thought and judgment. The subjects went without sleep for a period of fifty hours, and were tested for about fifteen minutes each day during that period. The comparison of the results of control subjects with those of the subjects who went without sleep indicates that fifty consecutive hours of wakefulness are not enough to produce more than an indication of the trend of mental ability as affected by insomnia. Positive conclusions could only be drawn from tests made during a longer period of wakefulness. Extraneous influences, such as colds, sickness, worry, etc., have as much effect on the gross scores of the tests as short periods of sleeplessness. Subjective estimates of the quality and amount of work done in the tests are valueless. From Psych Bulletin 21:08:00807. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)