Cognitive fatigue in young, middle‐aged, and older: Breaks as a way to recover.
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| Title: | Cognitive fatigue in young, middle‐aged, and older: Breaks as a way to recover. |
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| Authors: | Gilsoul, Jessica, Libertiaux, Vincent, Collette, Fabienne |
| Source: | Applied Psychology: An International Review. Oct2022, Vol. 71 Issue 4, p1565-1597. 33p. |
| Subjects: | Cognition disorders, Statistics, Well-being, Analysis of variance, Cognition disorders in adolescence, Motivation (Psychology), Task performance, Visual analog scale, Pearson correlation (Statistics), T-test (Statistics), Employees' workload, Chi-squared test, Descriptive statistics, Cognition disorders in old age, Fatigue (Physiology), Data analysis, Drowsiness, Old age |
| Abstract: | Maintaining productivity is of primary importance in organizational settings. Nowadays, the pressure for work efficacy is required until advanced age given the increased longevity in western societies. Worryingly, performing a work for a long‐lasting duration may induce cognitive fatigue, which can alter job performance or cause work accidents. Regarding laboratory studies, cognitive fatigue, as induced in Time‐on‐Task designs, has been shown to increase reaction times (RTs). According to the Effort‐Recovery Model (ERM), work breaks are able to relieve cognitive fatigue and to maintain performance. However, few studies have investigated age‐related effects in such a context. In this study, young, middle‐aged, and older people performed a 160‐min Stroop task in a "NoBreak" or a "Breaks" condition. To assess changes in RTs with Time‐on‐Task, the task duration was divided into four 40‐min blocks in which the ex‐Gaussian τ parameter (i.e., an index of longer RTs) was extracted from individual RT data. Our main results showed that young and middle‐aged people increased their τ with Time‐on‐Task while older people did not. Importantly, participants in the NoBreak condition increased their τ with Time‐on‐Task while those in the Breaks condition kept this parameter constant, suggesting a beneficial effect of breaks independently of age. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] |
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| Database: | Psychology and Behavioral Sciences Collection |
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| Abstract: | Maintaining productivity is of primary importance in organizational settings. Nowadays, the pressure for work efficacy is required until advanced age given the increased longevity in western societies. Worryingly, performing a work for a long‐lasting duration may induce cognitive fatigue, which can alter job performance or cause work accidents. Regarding laboratory studies, cognitive fatigue, as induced in Time‐on‐Task designs, has been shown to increase reaction times (RTs). According to the Effort‐Recovery Model (ERM), work breaks are able to relieve cognitive fatigue and to maintain performance. However, few studies have investigated age‐related effects in such a context. In this study, young, middle‐aged, and older people performed a 160‐min Stroop task in a "NoBreak" or a "Breaks" condition. To assess changes in RTs with Time‐on‐Task, the task duration was divided into four 40‐min blocks in which the ex‐Gaussian τ parameter (i.e., an index of longer RTs) was extracted from individual RT data. Our main results showed that young and middle‐aged people increased their τ with Time‐on‐Task while older people did not. Importantly, participants in the NoBreak condition increased their τ with Time‐on‐Task while those in the Breaks condition kept this parameter constant, suggesting a beneficial effect of breaks independently of age. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] |
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| ISSN: | 0269994X |
| DOI: | 10.1111/apps.12358 |
