Original scientific paper
Effect of the number and lenght of rest pauses on work output in static effort
B. Petz
; Institute of Psychology, Faculty of Letters, University of Zagreb, Zagreb
Abstract
It was considered of interest to see how changes in the number and length of rest pauses affect work output. The experiment was carried out on 11 subjects by the Henry mercury dynamometer. The total lenght of the experiment amounted to 4 minutes, while the ratio between the total length of work and the total time of rest was 3:1. The following situations were analysed:
Lenght of work and rest pauses in seconds (numbers in brackets = pauses):
Without the rest = 240
(A) 90 + (60) + 90 = 240
(B) 60 + (30) + 60 + (30) + 60 = 240
(C) 45 + (20) + 45 + (20) + 45 + {20) + 45 = 240
The subject squeezed the rubber bulb as much as he could, and tried to maintain the maximum strain without visual control. The height of the mercury column was read every 5 seconds. »Work output« was obtained by adding up all the readings. The results: The average work output was 892 in experiment (A), 955 in (B), and 977 in (C). If there were no rest pauses at all and the work alone lasted 4 minutes, the work output was 880. The differences obtained are statistically significant. The results show that in the static effort of this kind it is better to have more shorter than less fewer longer rest pauses.
Keywords
Hrčak ID:
180652
URI
Publication date:
27.6.1964.
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