The impact of sleep loss on metacognitive performance

Sleep loss is known to impair cognition and increase the rate of accidents and injuries. This thesis investigated the impact of sleep loss on the ability to recognise performance errors. It was found awareness of errors was reduced following restricted sleep but not complete sleep deprivation, indicating individuals who regularly obtain some, but not enough sleep, may be unaware of their impaired performance. Reduced awareness of errors may be one factor contributing to the increased accidents and injuries seen in contexts where sleep loss is prevalent.