Decision interval and signal detectability in a vigilance task.

1965 ◽  
Vol 19 (2) ◽  
pp. 111-117 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jane F. Mackworth
Keyword(s):  
Vigilance Task ◽  
Signal Detectability

Effects of Aircraft Noise on Vigilance Performance and Perceived Workload

1992 ◽  
Vol 36 (18) ◽  
pp. 1513-1517 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ami B. Becker ◽  
Joel S. Warm ◽  
William N. Dember ◽  
JoAnn Sparnall ◽  
Laura DeRonde
Keyword(s):  
Vigilance Task ◽  
Aircraft Noise ◽  
Maximum Intensity ◽  
Perceptual Sensitivity ◽  
Negative Effects ◽  
Vigilance Performance ◽  
Knowledge Of Results ◽  
Perceived Workload ◽  
Signal Detectability ◽  
The Right

This study examined the effects of exposure to intermittent jet aircraft noise played through stereophonic speakers (70dBA or 95dBA maximum intensity) on performance efficiency and perceived workload in a 40-min visual vigilance task. The noise featured a Doppler-like quality in which planes seemed to approach from the monitor's left and recede to the right. Performance in noise, measured in terms of perceptual sensitivity (d***'), was significantly poorer than in a quiet condition. Moreover, in comparison to subjects performing in quiet, those who operated in noise were less able to profit from knowledge of results (KR) regarding performance efficiency. In addition to its negative effects upon signal detectability, noise significantly elevated perceived workload, as indexed by the NASA-TLX. This effect was robust; it was not mitigated by KR, even though KR served generally to reduce the overall level of perceived workload in the study. The consistency of the effects of noise in regard to both performance efficiency and perceived workload challenges a recent conclusion offered by Koelega and Brinkman (1986) that lawful relations are not observable in studies of the effects of noise on vigilant behavior.

Performance Sharing in an Audio-Visual Vigilance Task

1965 ◽  
Vol 7 (2) ◽  
pp. 141-153 ◽  
Author(s):  
James J. Mcgrath
Keyword(s):  
Sensory Modality ◽  
Vigilance Task ◽  
Display Design ◽  
Theoretical Approaches ◽  
Signal Detectability

The phenomenon of performance sharing, discovered in an earlier experiment, was verified in the present one, and attributed to differences in signal detectability when two vigilance tasks are performed concurrently. Performance on a vigilance display presenting easily detectable signals was shown to be enhanced by requiring the observer to monitor simultaneously another display, presenting difficult signals via a different sensory modality. Several theoretical approaches to the explanation of the phenomenon are discussed, and implications for display design and research are suggested.

The Elicited Observing Rate and Decision Processes in Vigilance

1965 ◽  
Vol 7 (2) ◽  
pp. 107-128 ◽  
Author(s):  
Harry J. Jerison ◽  
Ronald M. Pickett ◽  
Herbert H. Stenson
Keyword(s):  
Performance Measures ◽  
Vigilance Task ◽  
Fixed Number ◽  
Detection Performance ◽  
Decision Processes ◽  
Signal Probability ◽  
Single Measure ◽  
Signal Detectability

Observers detected many more of a fixed number of signals when these were among stimuli presented at 5 per minute than when these were among stimuli presented at 30 or 60 per minute. The effect, which is associated with either the signal probability or the nonsignal stimulus density, is analyzed with conventional measures and with measures from the theory of signal detectability (TSD). The TSD measures were used to define several possible modes of observing, and the model of vigilance based on decisions about observing could then be related to decision processes in detection performance as considered by TSD. If a single measure of the probability of alert observing is required, the best one is the percentage of detections of the readily detectable signal of the vigilance task. However, the TSD analysis suggested various different “mixes” of modes of observing for the subgroups in this experiment, and these mixes could be specified with the the help of heuristic models relating performance measures to the probability of observing.

Two Short Tests Fail to Detect Vigilance Decrements

2001 ◽  
Vol 17 (1) ◽  
pp. 48-55 ◽  
Author(s):  
Juan Botella ◽  
María José Contreras ◽  
Pei-Chun Shih ◽  
Víctor Rubio
Keyword(s):  
Individual Differences ◽  
High Performance ◽  
Selection Process ◽  
Vigilance Task ◽  
Air Traffic Controllers ◽  
Job Selection ◽  
Performance Deterioration ◽  
Short Test ◽  
Psychological Dimensions

Summary: Deterioration in performance associated with decreased ability to sustain attention may be found in long and tedious task sessions. The necessity for assessing a number of psychological dimensions in a single session often demands “short” tests capable of assessing individual differences in abilities such as vigilance and maintenance of high performance levels. In the present paper two tasks were selected as candidates for playing this role, the Abbreviated Vigilance Task (AVT) by Temple, Warm, Dember, LaGrange and Matthews (1996) and the Continuous Attention Test (CAT) by Tiplady (1992) . However, when applied to a sample of 829 candidates in a job-selection process for air-traffic controllers, neither of them showed discriminative capacity. In a second study, an extended version of the CAT was applied to a similar sample of 667 subjects, but also proved incapable of properly detecting individual differences. In short, at least in a selection context such as that studied here, neither of the tasks appeared appropriate for playing the role of a “short” test for discriminating individual differences in performance deterioration in sustained attention.

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