Self-reported arousal during sleep deprivation and its relation to performance and physiological variables

Bohlin, G. & Kjellberg, A. Self-reported arousal during sleep deprivation and its relation to performance and physiological variables. Scand. J. Psychol., 1973, 14, 78–86.-Thayer's (1967) self-report inventory was translated and subjected to factor analysis. A four factor solution, slightly deviant from Thayer's, was adopted. The factors were labelled Sleep-Wakefulness, Stress, Euphoria, and Energy. Twenty Ss took part in a sleep deprivation (SD) experiment, which included physiological (EEG, skin conductance, body temperature), and reaction time (RT) recordings. All four factors showed decreasing trends over the night of SD, and with the exception of the Stres Factor, they were correlated with body temperature variations. The ratings in Sleep-Wakefulness and Energy were significantly lowered as a result of SD. The effect of SD upon these factors was also correlated with the effect upon the RT task and the physiological variables. From these results a model for phenomenological arousal was proposed and discussed.