In contrast to a previous study (Deaton, Tobias, & Wilkinson, 1971), data are presented which demonstrate significant decreases in response bias (β) as well as sensitivity (d′) following one night of sleep deprivation. It is argued that previous failures to observe significant decreases in β may be related to the disparity in the number of noise and signal-plus-noise trials in these experiments. The use of parametric analyses to test the effect of sleep deprivation on d′ and β is recommended.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
DeatonM.TobiasJ. S.WilkinsonR. T.The effect of sleep deprivation on signal detection parameters. Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology, 1971, 23, 449–452.
2.
ElkinA. J.MurrayD. J.The effects of sleep loss on short-term recognition memory. Canadian Journal of Psychology, 1974, 28, 192–198.
3.
GourevitchV.GalanterE.A significance test for one parameter isosensitivity functions. Psychometrika, 1967, 32, 25–33.
4.
GreenD. M.SwetsJ. A.Signal detection theory and psychophysics. New York: Wiley, 1966.
5.
PastoreR. E.ScheirerC. J.Signal detection theory: Considerations for general application. Psychological Bulletin, 1974, 81, 945–958.
6.
PolzellaD. J.Effects of sleep deprivation on short-term recognition memory. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Learning and Memory, 1975, 104, 194–200.
7.
SmithJ. E. K.A note on the standard error of the estimates of TSD parameters from “Yes-No” experiments. Technical Report No. MMPP 69-8, Univer. of Michigan Mathematical Psychology Program, 1969.
