Signal probability effects on high-workload vigilance tasks

Matthews, Gerald

doi:10.3758/bf03210757

Cited by 8 publications

(2 citation statements)

References 15 publications

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“…Factors that make a vigilance task more demanding include, inter alia, memory load (e.g., having to compare a stimulus with a standard in memory) and perceptual degradation of the stimulus (e.g., Nuechterlein, Parasuraman, & Jiang, 1983). For example, Matthews (1996) found sensitivity effects, rather than effects of signal probability, on criterion in a task that required participants to respond only to the digit ''0'' among other digits with 30% added pixel noise. It is reasonable to suppose that the memory demands of the XRST are at least an order of magnitude greater than those in Matthews' experiment.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 97%

Prevalence effects in newly trained airport checkpoint screeners: Trained observers miss rare targets, too

Wolfe

Brunelli²,

Rubinstein³

et al. 2013

Journal of Vision

118

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Many socially important search tasks are characterized by low target prevalence, meaning that targets are rarely encountered. For example, transportation security officers (TSOs) at airport checkpoints encounter very few actual threats in carry-on bags. In laboratory-based visual search experiments, low prevalence reduces the probability of detecting targets (Wolfe, Horowitz, & Kenner, 2005). In the lab, this "prevalence effect" is caused by changes in decision and response criteria (Wolfe & Van Wert, 2010) and can be mitigated by presenting a burst of high-prevalence search with feedback (Wolfe et al., 2007). The goal of this study was to see if these effects could be replicated in the field with TSOs. A total of 125 newly trained TSOs participated in one of two experiments as part of their final evaluation following training. They searched for threats in simulated bags across five blocks. The first three blocks were low prevalence (target prevalence ≤ .05) with no feedback; the fourth block was high prevalence (.50) with full feedback; and the final block was, again, low prevalence. We found that newly trained TSOs were better at detecting targets at high compared to low prevalence, replicating the prevalence effect. Furthermore, performance was better (and response criterion was more "liberal") in the low-prevalence block that took place after the high-prevalence block than in the initial three low-prevalence blocks, suggesting that a burst of high-prevalence trials may help alleviate the prevalence effect in the field.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 97%

Prevalence effects in newly trained airport checkpoint screeners: Trained observers miss rare targets, too

Wolfe

Brunelli²,

Rubinstein³

et al. 2013

Journal of Vision

118

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“…Resource depletion may also influence performance on tasks other than traditional, low signal-probability vigilance tasks. Short-duration signal detection tasks with relatively high signal probabilities (0.20–0.35) have been designed to impose high cognitive demands (Matthews, 1996; Parasuraman, Jiang, & Neucheterlein, 1985; Temple et al, 2000). These tasks show performance decrement over intervals as short as 10 min.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The ANT Executive Control Index: No Evidence for Temporal Decrement

Zholdassova¹,

Kustubayeva

Matthews

2019

Hum Factors

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Objective: This study tested whether indices of executive control, alertness, and orienting measured with Attention Network Test (ANT) are vulnerable to temporal decrement in performance. Background: Developing the resource theory of sustained attention requires identifying neurocognitive processes vulnerable to decrement. Executive control processes may be prone to impairment in fatigue states. Such processes are also highlighted in alternative theories. Determining the role of executive control in vigilance can both advance theory and contribute to practical countermeasures for decrement in human factors contexts. Method: In Study 1, 80 participants performed the standard ANT for an extended duration of about 55 to 60 min. Study 2 (160 participants) introduced manipulations of trial blocking and stimulus degradation intended to increase resource depletion. Reaction time and accuracy measures were analyzed. Subjective stress and workload were assessed in both studies. Results: In both studies, the ANT induced levels of subjective workload and task disengagement consistent with previous sustained attention studies. No systematic decrement in any performance measure was observed. Conclusion: Executive control assessed by the ANT is not highly vulnerable to temporal decrement, even when task demands are elevated. Future work should differentiate executive control processes; proactive control may be more implicated in sustained attention decrement than in reactive control. Application: Designing systems and interfaces to reduce executive control demands may be generally beneficial but will not directly mitigate temporal performance decrement. Enhancing design guidelines and neuroergonomic methods for monitoring operator attention requires further work to identify key neurocognitive processes for decrement.

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