Explain how individuals differ in their requirement for sleep.

Most adults need 7-8 hrs of sleep every 24 hrs
Older adults may require less sleep

Describe the stages of sleep.

Stage 1
This is the transitional phase between waking and sleeping. Slow rolling eye movements occur. This stage lasts 1 – 10 minutes. Some REM sleep occurs in this stage

Stage 2
Lasts about 10 minutes. The body temperature lowers and breathing slows 

Stage 3 & 4
These are stages of deep sleep – used for muscle repair and reduce fatigue effectively

Stage 5
Consists of REM sleep with rapid eye movement and muscle relaxation.
Dreaming occurs during this
REM sleep is required for a good quality sleep

Explain methods of managing stress.

• Keeping physically fit
• Being aware of limitations and capabilities
• Think and plan ahead
• Prioritise
• Seek assistance when required
• Avoid procrastination
• Ensure adequate diet and fluids
• Adequate rest , time off , sleep and recreation
• Avoid dehydration 
• Avoid flying when sick or taking meds
• Avoid self medication
• Avoid workaholism
• Learn relaxation techniques
• Understand stress 

Describe the relationship between stress and fatigue.

Fatigue is the prolonged accumulation of stress

Describe the factors that improve personal stress tolerance.

• Keeping physically fit
• Being aware of limitations and capabilities
• Think and plan ahead
• Prioritise
• Seek assistance when required
• Avoid procrastination
• Ensure adequate diet and fluids
• Adequate rest , timeoff , sleep and recreation
• Avoid dehydration 
• Avoid flying when sick or taking meds
• Avoid self medication
• Avoid workaholism
• Learn relaxation techniques
• Understand stress 

Describe the physiological and psychological effects of stress.

• Nervousness / shakiness
• Sweating forehead / palms
• Awareness of heartbeat
• Over breathing
• Irritability 

Explain the difference between acute and chronic stress.

Acute stress
is immediate and disappears after a short time

Chronic stress
is longer lasting and resulting in fatigue

Explain methods of identifying stress.

• Making mistakes
• Short tempered
• Forgetful (load -shedding)
• Drinking alcohol / smoking more
• Noisy / uncharacteristic behaviour
• Frequent conflicts with others
• Marital problems
• Legal problems
• Flying dangerously
• Reverting to the previously learnt basic skills and drills (which may not be correct) 

Describe the following environmental stressors ...

Heat

Cold

Blood is sent to the body core and toes and fingers feel cold and muscles begin to stiffen and feel weak

Tiredness, drowsiness and shivering then follow 

Noise

Vibration

Vibrations transmitted to the body from the aircraft via the seat, seatbelts and floor can cause discomfort and distraction from tasks

Humidity

Physical discomfort 

Explain the relationship between stress and arousal.

The relationship between stress and arousal can be seen in the following graph. It can be seen that stress creates an arousal, that picks up the pilots attention. With this arousal the pilots performance is increased to a certain extent, with too much arousal the pilot is overloaded and performance drops. 

There is an ideal amount of arousal for the ideal pilot performance (pictured on the graph as the grey area)