Physiological Influences upon the Work Performance of Men and Women.
Abstract
The primary focus of the research project is on the effects of ovarian cycling on the work performance of women, including an assessment of the interactive effects of menstruation with a stressor known to produce decrements in work performance--continuous work and sleep loss for a period of 48 hours. In addition, the research plan provided comparisons of data obtained on female subjects to data of other studies using male subjects employed in the same work situation. Central to the conduct of the research project was the use of the synthetic-work methodology that has been successfully employed in similar investigations using subjects from the male population. A brief summary of the philosophy and history of the synthetic-work methodology and a more detailed elaboration of multiple-task performance battery are presented. The research project called for a total of seven studies completed during a two-year period with each of the studies conducted in three phases. In each of the studies, the first phase (Training phase) required the subjects to perform the tasks of a multiple-task performance battery for a total fo 48 hours, performed in 4-hour blocks distributed over two or four weeks. This phase was required to insure that the subjects were operating at asymptotic levels of performance. The second phase of each study (Sleep-Loss and Continuous-Work phase) was devoted to the investigation of the combined effects of phase of the menstrual cycle (i.e., menstruation or midcycle), type of cycle (i.e., normally cycling or contraceptive pill), and 48 hours of sleep loss and continuous work performance.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Dec 01, 1979
- Accession Number
- ADA097260
Entities
People
- Glynn D. Coates
- Nancy Eberhardt
- Raymond H. Kirby
Organizations
- Old Dominion University