Michael A. Riley

Detection-Action Linkage in Vigilance: Effects on Workload and Stress

Using a simulated UAV control task in which a vigilance display warned observers of the presence of enemy threats, Gunn et al. (2005) reported that perceived mental workload in relation to the vigilance task was unexpectedly low. The present study did not confirm that finding. It did show, however, that vigilance performance was greater and task induced stress was less among observers who had the opportunity to act upon vigilance signal detections by destroying the enemy threats than among those who detected threats but had no opportunity to counter them. Accordingly, the results point to the importance of a detection-action linkage to enhance signal detection and reduce stress in the performance of vigilance tasks.

Individual and Team Susceptibility to Change Blindness

BACKGROUND Individual operators in command and control environments are susceptible to change blindness. Change blindness by teams of operators, which is typical in military command and control, has not been extensively studied. This experiment investigated change blindness in individuals and teams in a simulated military command and control situation display. METHODS Subjects completed a change-detection task individually or in three-person teams. In one team condition team members could actively communicate with each other, but in another condition they could not. The change-detection task involved monitoring flicker sequences of displays containing 6, 12, 24, or 48 icons for changes in icon position. RESULTS Results revealed a team advantage that was more pronounced when teams communicated. Communicating teams had higher overall correct detection rates (mean = 95%) than both non-communicating triads (mean = 80%) and individuals (mean = 79%). Teams were susceptible to change blindness just as individuals were, but teamwork and communication were beneficial in reducing change blindness susceptibility. Communicating teams also experienced lower global workload (mean = 24.08) than non-communicating triads (mean = 38.44) and individuals (mean = 47.18). DISCUSSION This research highlights the importance of teamwork and communication in reducing change blindness and workload in a command and control environment. The findings can be used to facilitate development of methods and tools for reducing individual and team change blindness susceptibility.

Performance, Stress, Workload, and Coping Profiles in 1st Year Medical Students' Interaction with the Endoscopic/Laparoscopic and Robot-Assisted Surgical Techniques

First-year medical students performed a simulated surgical task involving item transfers using a laparoscopic trainer box and the Intuitive Surgicals da Vinci® Surgical System. Performance efficiency in terms of the ratio of successfully transferred items to the sum of transferred items plus drops was greater when using the da Vinci than the laparoscopic system and task-induced stress measured by the Dundee Stress State Questionnaire was greater when working with the laparoscopic than with the da Vinci system. Perceived mental workload indexed by the Multiple Resources Questionnaire was high with both systems. With both systems, profiles of the information-processing resources involved in task performance emphasized manual, short-term memory, spatial, and visual/temporal processing dimensions. As measured by the Coping Inventory of Task Stress, task-focused coping was the dominant coping style used by the students with both surgical systems. The results have potential implications for selection and training with minimally invasive surgery procedures.

Change Blindness in Teams: Are Three Pairs of Eyes Better than One?

Several studies have indicted that people often fail to detect changes in visual displays under a variety of conditions. More recent research has indicated that individual operators are susceptible to change blindness in military command and control environments. Change blindness has been studied extensively but only at the individual level. Very little research has explored change blindness in the context of team performance. The purpose of this experiment was to determine if teams were more or less susceptible to change blindness than individual observers in the context of a simulated military command and control situation display. Individuals and teams monitored flicker sequences of displays containing 6, 12, 24, or 48 icons for changes in icon position. Our results revealed a team advantage but this effect was more pronounced when teams communicated. Communicating teams outperformed both non-communicating teams and individuals. However, communicating teams were not immune to change blindness but team communication played a key role in reducing change blindness and the workload associated with the change detection task.