Flicker Fusion Frequency as a Function of Anxiety Reaction; An Exploratory Study*

Publisher Website
Google Scholar
Abstract
Fatigued individuals or those with low metabolic rates exhibited abnormally low flicker fusion frequency. The object of this study was to de termine if Air Forces combat veterans suffering from the syndrome designated officially as "operational fatigue" differed from normal veterans in flicker fusion frequency. Both the "operational fatigue" group and the normal control group were made up of 50 veterans returned from combat. Each individual of both groups was given a flicker fusion test by means of a General Radio Company "Strobotac," Model 631-B. The figures for each individual were based on 10 measures of flicker fusion frequency. The mean flicker fusion frequency of the group of combat veterans with "operational fatigue" was found to be reliably lower than for the group of normal aircrew veterans, although there was considerable overlapping in the distribution of scores for the two groups. Intercorrelations made between flicker fusion frequency and such factors as age, time of day tested, sleep during previous night, and psychiatric diagnosis indicate that this score is not significantly related to any of the variables studied except that of psychiatric diagnosis.
Keywords

This publication has 1 reference indexed in Scilit: