Teamwork on a cognitive task during a night of sleep deprivation and sustained operations

Research shows that sleep deprivation has a negative effect on performance on cognitive and vigilance tasks. However, little research has focused on the effects of sleep deprivation on team performance. This study examined the effect of sleep deprivation on a task requiring teamwork to maximize performance. Twenty-four college students remained awake for one night and completed a variety of tasks during each of four testing sessions. The Wombat, a complex cognitive task, required participants to work with a partner to maximize their overall scores. Results show that performance over the night increased while performance within each testing session decreased. This indicates that teamwork can help to improve performance over a night of sleep deprivation but does not entirely counteract the negative effects seen within the testing sessions. The current results suggest that team managers should be aware that teamwork may not counteract all negative effects of sleep deprivation on performance.