Showing papers on "Vigilance (psychology) published in 1970"

The effects of acute sleep deprivation on selective attention

Abstract: It has been shown that performance in vigilance tasks deteriorates greatly after loss of sleep. It is hypothesized that deterioration in these and other tasks is largely due to a breakdown in the ability to attend selectively to relevant information in the task. An experiment is described in which subjects' performance in a task involving ignoring irrelevant information was shown to deteriorate more after sleep loss than performance on the same task without irrelevant information present. It is suggested that sleep plays an important part in maintaining selective attention and the symptoms shown by sleep-deprived subjects are largely due to a failure in selective attention.

Expectancy and Stimulus Generalization in Vigilance.

Abstract: The influence of signal probability during an auditory pretest on performance on a visual monitoring task was examined in a split-plot factorial analysis of variance. 52 Ss were given an auditory pretask in which white noise was intermittently terminated at either a high (p = .18) or low (p = .02) probability during any 2-sec. interval; then a visual monitoring task was performed in which the signal probability was either high (p = .18) or low (p = .02). Ss who received the high auditory pretask performed reliably better than the low group (p < .01). The within-session decrement varied as a function of the different pretest and task signal probabilities. The results support the expectancy theory of vigilance and suggest the importance of the role of pretask adaptation in the vigilance paradigm.

Auditory Vigilance Performance in Brain Damaged, Behavior Disordered, and Normal Children

Abstract: Auditory vigilance of normal, behavior disordered and brain damaged children was investigated. A 20-minute tape recording of a series of randomized digits was played to each subject. Interspersed at irregular intervals a stimulus number was presented for detection. The results showed that the normal subjects detected far more signals than the brain damaged and behavior disordered subjects, and that the brain damaged subjects missed more signals than the behavior disordered subjects.Results confirmed the hypothesis that normal subjects would miss fewer signals because they accumulate less reactive inhibition; that brain damaged children would reveal extraverted behavior patterns; and there would be a progressive deterioration in vigilance as a direct function of time for all subjects.The implication is that work tasks for behavior disordered and brain damaged children should be kept as short as possible to prevent accumulation of any significant amount of reative inhibition.

An Exploratory Study of the Psychological Effects of Intermittent Exposure to Elevated Carbon Dioxide Levels

Abstract: : The purpose of the study was to determine whether any remarkable psychological changes occur as a result of intermittent exposure to 3% carbon dioxide for six days. The measures used to detect these effects were: (1) the Response Analysis Tester (RATER) which measures general vigilance; (2) single- digit addition test as a measure of problem-solving ability; (3) letter cancellation as a measure of eye-hand coordination and sequented reaction time; and (4) adjective checklist measures of depression, hostility, anxiety and general maladjustive trends. The data from this pilot study tentatively suggest that some emotional changes may occur during the six-day CO2 exposure period. On the other hand, vigilance, coordination and problem-solving ability probably do not change under the same conditions, although a more carefully controlled study involving a substantial subject sample is needed to demonstrate this fact.

Vigilance Performance under Hypoxia: II. Effect of Work-Rest Schedule

Abstract: Summary.-18 Ss were required to perform a visual vigilance task for 2 hr. while breathing either 21% Oa (sea level) or 10 9% 02 (17,000 ft.). The 2-hr. trial period contained either no rest periods, one 10.rnin. rest period, or three 10-min. rest periods. Vigilance performance deteriorated under 10.9% 02, and the introduction of rest periods did not reduce this decrement. Of two individual difference measures taken, IQ and Sensation-seeking score, only IQ related to vigilance performance and only at sea level (21% 02). In a previous study, Cahoon (in press) found that hypoxia produced a significant decrement in vigilance performance such that Ss in a 2-hr. discrimination task showed significant decreases in percentage of signals detected from 21% oxygen (sea level) to 10.9% ,oxygen (17,000-ft. altitude). The present study was designed to determine the effects of rest periods on such decrements. It has been shown, for example, that the use of rest periods varying from 30 sec. (Jenkins, 1958) to 30 min. (Mackworth, 1948) helped to reduce the drop in signal detection found in vigilance studies at sea level. Such rest periods may be particularly effective at high altitude where frequent rest periods appear to be desirable for many types of performance (Gerben & House, 1969). In addition to group changes, the previous study also showed that field dependence was related to poor vigilance performance (Cahoon, in press) in that Ss who scored high on the embedded-figures subtesr of the Cattell A-0 battery indicated a greater ability to discriminate between signals and non-signals than Ss who scored low. In the present srudy, two further measures of individual variation were explored in conjunction with hypoxia exposure. Pollack ( 1929), Poffenberger ( 1938), and Taylor, Thompson, and Spassoff ( 1937) found that subjective feelings of boredom, fatigue, and monotony were related to vigilance performance since the most easily bored Ss showed the greatest decrement in performance. In the present study, this variable was measured by the Sensationseeking Scale developed by Zuckerman, Kolin, Price, and Zoob ( 1964). It has also been found that intelligence as reflected by IQ scores accounts for much of the individual variation in vigilance performance. Kappauf and Powe (1959), for example, showed that Ss who scored low on the Armed Forces Qualification Test (AFQT) generally showed a greater decrement on an audio'The assistance of Kathryn Keighley in the collection of data and in statistical analysis is gratefully acknowledged.

Response requirements and performance in a visual vigilance task

Abstract: Three groups of Ss performed a visual vigilance task with either one (standard vigilance procedure), two (binary procedure), or four (rating procedure) keys available as response indicators. Data analyzed within the framework of the theory of signal detection revealed that the criterion, β, increased for all groups but was considerably lower for the rating method group. The sensitivity parameter, d’, remained constant over time and was also found to be independent of the response requirement. Results were discussed in terms of the relationship between psychophysical procedures and vigilance tasks.

Device for testing the vigilance of a person

Abstract: A device for testing the vigilance of a person based on his flicker fusion threshold, having at least two luminous indicators of which at least one is flickering, whereby selection of the flickering indicator or comparison of flickering frequencies is possible.

Monitoring performance on visual and auditory displays.

Abstract: Summary.-This experiment was designed to compare the monitoring performance of Ss using a visual display with the performance of Ss using an auditory display. 24 Ss were randomly assigned to monitor either the visual or the auditory display for a 3-hr, period. Two measures of performance, reaction time and probability of responding, were obtained during the monitoring session. An analysis of the results indicates that Ss who monitored the auditory display had shorter reaction times, higher probability of responding, and less variability than Ss who monitored the visual display. Vigilance research is concerned with Ss' attentiveness in a monitoring task and with his capabilities for detecting changes in the task stimuli. These stimuli require sustained observations and are presented serially during relatively long periods of observation. Mackworth (1948), in his classic experiment, reported a performance decrement which occurred as a function of time spent in monitoring a visual vigilance display. This finding has been verified by numerous investigators: Adams ( 1956), Baker ( 1959), and Bakan ( 195 5 ) . Baker, Ware, and Sipowicz ( 1962) reported that probability of detection was consistently higher for auditory signals than for visual signals. The present experiment was designed to compare the performance of Ss on two kinds of vigilance displays, a visual display and an auditory display. METHOD Apparatgs The visual vigilance display which resembled a cathode ray tube consisted of a %-in. thick circular frosted glass screen 4 in. in diameter mounted in a cabinet. The signal was a stationary 0.15- by 0.35-in. vertical light beam projected for 0.25 sec. in the center of the screen from an Inter-digital Display Unit mounted behind the screen. The visual display was located 18 in. in front of Ss. A Gerbrands Programmer was used to control the visual signal presentation rate and duration. The interstimulus intervals, which were randomly programmed, were: 1.0, 1.5, 2.0, 2.5, 3.0, 3.5, and 4.0 min. The monitoring period lasted for 3 hr. Twenty-four signals were presented each hour, and this program of signals was repeated for the second and third hours of the monitoring period. The auditory vigilance display consisted of a 3-in. loudspeaker mounted inside the display unit. The auditory task required the detection of a 1000-Hz tone

Vigilance before and after sleep.

Abstract: In an auditory vigilance (signal detection) task, 13 Ss missed more signals and made more false reports 10 min. after awakening in the morning than at night before bed. Higher confidence levels were associated with correct signal detections made before bed than with those made in the morning, and Ss were more confident when they responded to signals than when they made false reports.

Acoustic vigilance behavior in four-year-old children

Abstract: Eighty 4-year-old Ss were given an acoustic vigilance task in which they were to signal the presence of pure tones which appeared irregularly, infrequently, and at faint suprathreshold levels. In several significant aspects these young Ss behaved similarly to adults. Acoustic vigilance testing is discussed as a potentially useful framework in which to assess and observe children’s attentional behavior.

Human Sleep Patterns and Psychomotor Performance During Exposure to Moderate Concentrations of Carbon Monoxide

Abstract: : When subjects are allowed to sleep for a normal period of time in the presence of CO at a level up to 150 ppm, there is no major disruption of either their sleep patterns or subsequent psychomotor performance involving time estimation, mental arithmetic, tracking, or vigilance under either moderate or high workloads. With respect to the performance measures, no patterns were isolated which would indicate that more detailed study under the same conditions would yield any significant effects of CO exposure. Some extremely tenuous indications of possible changes in the mobility of subjects during their early stages of sleep were uncovered, and these should be investigated further. (Author)