Second international School On Mind, Brain And Education
2007, May 22-26
Basic and Applied Topics
in Biological Rhythms and Learning
Directors: Antonio M. Battro and Kurt W. Fischer
Program officer: María Lourdes Majdalani
USA
Morningness/ Eveningness preferences and performance
Based on preliminary findings in a sleep study conducted at the United States Military Academy (USMA) on the Class of 2007, subsequent research was conducted to determine if morningness/eveningness preferences influence performance. The present study tested 946 USMA cadets from the Class of 2008 (age 17 to 23). The procedure for this study consisted of three parts. First, cadets who left USMA during the initial cadet summer training took a written survey (a derivation of the Horne-Östberg Morningness/Eveningness Questionnaire). Second, the remaining members of the Class of 2008 took the same questionnaire approximately 58 days after their arrival at USMA. Last, the attrition, academic, military, and physical cadet scores were collected at the end of the fall semester. Using a series of one-way between-subjects analysis of variance tests, the results indicated that cadets with “night owl” tendencies displayed significantly lower military scores than robins or larks. No significant difference was noted for the academic or physical performance scores, physical performance scores, or attrition. The results of the present study have far-reaching implications for cadet life and the conduct of successful 24-hour United States Army operations.