title: Diurnal variation in mental activities of French pupils and influence of test protocol.
abstract: The aim of the study was to determine the influence of the test protocol (individual vs. group) on the diurnal variations in mental activity of 18 11-year-old pupils. Number cancellation, a spatial orientation test, and mathematical problems were tested four times on three successive Fridays at 08:45, 11:15, 13:45 and 16:45 h. On the first and third Fridays the tests were performed on the group of subjects, whereas individual subjects were tested on the second Friday. Results indicated a possible influence of the test protocol (individual vs. group) on intellectual rhythmicity. Only in the group protocol did we find the psychological profile which is normally observed, namely, a performance increase during the morning, a postlunch fall, and then an increase in the afternoon. We suggest the existence of some group effect in these performance tests.
authors: Laboratoire de Psychologie Expérimentale, Université de Tours, France.
authors: F
authors: F
authors: Testu
mesh_terms: D002648:Child; D002940:Circadian Rhythm / Q000502:physiology*; D005602:France; D006126:Group Processes; D006801:Humans; D008606:Mental Processes / Q000502:physiology*; D011581:Psychological Tests