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Thursday, September 10, 2009
Are Drowsy Drivers Akin to Drowsy Test-Takers?
This morning on the Today Show, Meredith Viera showed footage of college students driving while deprived of sleep. Pretty scary stuff. While driving through simulated road hazards the previous day (not sleepy), the Today Show interns navigated the obstacles with ease. That night they were kept awake and then retested the next morning. On the retest, they careened around the course, hitting the bright orange safety cones on every turn, unable to stop when unforeseen objects appeared in their paths. That got me thinking. Do you think there are parallels to the danger of driving while drowsy in the test-taking situation? Can you think of scenarios when a student might take a test, having little or no sleep the night before.
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Unfortunately yes. Last semester I would always study all night and by the time I was taking the exam I would be completely exhausted. I've actually dozed off during the exams at times last semester. It also caused me to take too much time taking those exams.
ReplyDeleteYes! I've actually fallen asleep during tests as well! Driving while tired is more physically dangerous but testing is just as stressful. It is better to get some sleep than to stay up all night studying, otherwise you won't be awake enough to even answer common sense questions!
ReplyDeleteMakenzie Mason
Yes I believe that there is danger while driving drowsy in any situation. College students are under a lot of pressure to get an "A" on the test and sometimes forget to take care of themeselves as well.
ReplyDeleteYes, I was that student that was sleep deprived last year! I was always freaking out the night before the exam and eventually would stay up all night to cram in information and would get an hour or two of rest if I was lucky! As I was taking the test, I seemed to have difficulty comprehending the questions the first time so I would have to read and re-read the question; thus, taking up my time.
ReplyDeleteKathy Vu
Yes, I believe that if a student doesn't get rest the night before a large test or stays up all night studying for a test they will not do as well as they would have had they studied in increments and gotten an adequate amount of rest the night before and let the information soak into their mind so that they could recall it better. Driving while tired is a very bad idea for people to do because they cannot react as quickly-the same goes for test taking people can't react as quickly and recall the information if their brain is not awake and alert.
ReplyDeleteBesides the fact of not being fully alert, if the only time you prepare for a test is the night before, and stay up all night without getting any sleep, the information will not be stored and proccessed correctly. Therefore, you will not be able to use what you studied at your full potential. Getting sleep is imperative to successful test taking.
ReplyDeleteI proved over and over last semester that no sleep and test taking don't mix. When you are falling asleep on top of your test, you won't get a very good grade because you will rush through it so you can go home and sleep and not really care. Sometimes the lack of sleep was studying all night, or seeing friends until really late when the time should have been spent studying, but no matter what it was it had the same effect. Sleep is a good thing to have before taking a test
ReplyDeleteThankfully, if I ever were to feel I was not adequate to drive due to being sleep deprived, I would stop myself from opening a car door or ask a friend to drive.
ReplyDeleteI use to cram for exams and when I did, I would leave little to no sleep on the day of the exam. However, I seem to be the opposite of everyone else when reading their comments in that, yes, I am tired before entering the classroom but once I begin the test, I am wide awake, alert, and able to remember what I had studied.
The psychology student in me would be very curious of these results but also know that getting 9 hours of sleep at night is very important in order for the brain to selcect and discard what it believes was not important information to store regarding the days events and process what it feels was important. This allows retrieval techniques to be beneficial when preparing for an upcoming exam.
Going into a test with little or no sleep is a very bad thing. Drowsiness causes the concepts and procedures to become blurred and possibly be lost completely. Also, cramming the night before, then not sleeping leads to a lack of retention of the material. The cram session becomes meaningles without the essential hours of sleep.
ReplyDeletei pulled an all-nighter before a latin final once. i did well enough, but my stomach hurt, and i felt like i was losing grip on reality. i had to take the final while feeling like i'd have to run to the bathroom any second to puke. Some people have the ability to function properly without sleep. I am not one of them.
ReplyDeletePulling all-nighters has to basically be planned out right. I pulled 6 all-nighters last year but none for actual exams. I have not tried to do one for an exam because after i pull an all-nighter for a paper, i cant concentrate in class and find myself dazed and a bit lost. Sleep is important to taking exams and it can affect more than just your grade.
ReplyDeleteNot getting enough sleep definitely has a negative effect on my performance on a test, but if you do actually get to that point where its the day before the test and you haven't studied should you stay up all night to get enough study time? From my experience it seems like its just better to stay up and sacrafice sleep time in that situation. Obviously the best thing to do is study ahead of time, but if you dont manage your time well its easy to get in that situation.
ReplyDeleteYes. If you pull an "all-nighter", even though your intentions were to study all night to make a good grade on your test, you probably wont because you will be exhausted from no sleep.
ReplyDeleteI get sick pulling "all-nighters" but I can see similarity between drowsy driving and drowsy testtaking. I know if I'm tired during a test, all I want to do is be finished so I can go home. Likewise, when I am driving tired, I am in a hurry to get back to my place. So, I drive too fast, maybe don't pay as close attention to safety. I go too fast through a test, and don't pay attention to the details that could potentially raise my grade drastically. The thing is, I can pull over and nap if I'm too tired to drive. I can't nap during a test :(
ReplyDeleteI, unfortunatly, pull all nighters at least twice a month. I am such a procrastinator during the day, that I put everything off at night and sometimes I just cannot help staying up all night to study and catch up on homework.
ReplyDeleteI usually can stay up and will feel that really extreme exaustion around 4 AM, but as soon as the sun comes up I am reset and ready to go for the day.
I usually dont start to feel tired until early evening or late afternoon after the all nighter. However as soon as I do start feeling tired I am completely useless. I get to the point where I just shut down and cannot think right and I am pretty much delerious. I would definetly fail the driving test if I would take it at that time.
I don;t think you can compare driving to take a test. Once you learn to drive that is a skill that never leaves you and I doubt that after one night of no sleep the interns hit the cones every time. However you should get a good night of sleep before a test because taking a test unrested might be a bad idea. When you are tired and you try to recall information you often can't think about what you want to because all you are thinking is about how much you want to go to sleep.
ReplyDeleteActually, they did hit the cones almost every time. The first time, with normal sleep, they missed them all. The next morning after no sleep, they hit almost every one.
ReplyDeleteDrowsy driving and drowsy test taking are very similar. If you pull an all nighter then the next day during the test, all you are thinking about is going back home and sleeping so you rush through your test or even fall asleep while taking it. Also when you try to remember information, you have hard time thinking about it and cant recall. And if you are driving while drowsy then you are also thinking about just getting back home and sleeping. So in this case, you are either falling asleep while driving or just driving back really fast.
ReplyDeleteI definitely think that there are parallels between the two. I for one have taken tests when I am exhausted and I can tell the difference from when I am well rested. When taking a test sleep is essential. If you are drowsy for a test you might make careless mistakes just like the drivers which could have major consequences.
ReplyDeleteYes I think the two are very similiar, pulling all nighters before tests, makes you just very tired and not wanting to do anything other then think about sleep or when the next time you are going to sleep.
ReplyDeleteSpeaking from both science and experience ; an all nighter before a test increases your chances of not doing well.
ReplyDelete