Effect of Circadian Rhythm on Individual Performance: Evidence from Southern China

Abstract

Abstract: Effect of circadian rhythms has been found in both subjective assessments and other cognitive processes, such as attention, working memory, and executive function. But it still remains unclear about effect of circadian rhythms on Chinese population. Additionally, the sensitivity of different behavioral performance to diurnal rhythm may be diverse. The present study measured the changes of self-rating fatigue, vigilant attention, and inhibition control performance every two hours during a day under laboratory control. In general, our results partially supported the dual-process model of sleep-wake regulation. But different from previous results, Chinese participants perform better at 9:00 in the morning and perform worse at 19:00 during early-evening, compared to western population. Moreover, compared with subjective assessments and inhibition control performance, vigilant attention was more sensitive to the circadian effect in the present studies.

Key words: circadian rhythm, dual-process model, vigilant attention, inhibition control, fatigue sleepiness

摘要： 关于个体日间节律的研究大多来自西方，结果表明个体在主观感受与认知行为任务上的表现（包括注意，工作记忆，执行功能）在一天内有显著的差异。但在国内少有研究对中国群体的日间节律进行深入探讨。同时，不同的主客观心理指标对昼夜节律效应的敏感性的差异也缺乏实证研究的验证。因此本研究在实验室条件下，对个体在一天内，其主观疲劳程度、警觉性注意、以及抑制控制行为表现进行了考察。结果与昼夜节律的双过程模型基本一致，但与国外研究发现不同的是，我国个体在9点时会有较好的主观感受与警觉性水平，在19点时的表现则会变差。同时本研究还发现与警觉性注意能力相比，个体的主观感受以及在抑制控制任务中的辨别力对昼夜节律效应的敏感性相对较弱。

关键词: 昼夜节律, 双过程模型, 警觉性注意, 抑制控制, 疲劳程度

CLC Number:

B842

MAI Zifeng, SUN Rui, ZHANG Qun, LIANG Hua, MA Ning. Effect of Circadian Rhythm on Individual Performance: Evidence from Southern China[J]. Studies of Psychology and Behavior, 2019, 17(2): 185-192.

麦子峰, 孙瑞, 张群, 梁华, 马宁. 个体行为的昼夜节律效应：来自华南地区的证据[J]. 心理与行为研究, 2019, 17(2): 185-192.

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