Victor Finomore

Predicting vigilance: A fresh look at an old problem

Individual differences in vigilance are ubiquitous and relevant to a variety of work environments in industrial, transportation, medical and security settings. Despite much previous work, mostly on personality traits, it remains difficult to identify vigilant operators. This paper reviews recent research that may point towards practically useful predictor variables for vigilance. Theoretical approaches to identifying predictors that accommodate the heterogeneous nature of vigilance tasks are compared. The article surveys recent empirical studies using personality measures, ability tests and scales for stress and coping as predictors of vigilance. Promising new constructs include trait scales linked to fatigue, abnormal personality and the stress state of task engagement. Implications of the data reviewed for occupational selection are discussed. Selection should be based on a multivariate assessment strategy, cognitive task analysis of the operational vigilance task and use of work sample measures to capture typical stress responses to the task. This review paper surveys recent research that may point towards practically useful predictor variables for vigilance. The article surveys recent empirical studies using personality measures, ability tests and scales for stress and coping as predictors of vigilance. Selection should be based on a multivariate assessment strategy.

Human Factors in Cyber Warfare II: Emerging Perspectives

Cyber operations offer a unique environment in which the lines between cognition and technology are constantly blurred. Within the greater research community, current work often focuses solely on the technology, often only acknowledging the human in passing, if at all. More recently, the Human Factors community has begun to address human-centered issues in cyber operations, but in comparison to technological communities, we have yet to scratch the surface. Even with publications on Cyber Human Factors gaining momentum, we still lack a complete and holistic understanding of the domain itself, creating a major gap in the field. The purpose of this panel is to continue to expand the role Human Factors in cyber research by introducing the community to current work being done, and to facilitate collaborations to drive future research. We have assembled a panel of scientists across multiple specializations in the Human Factors community to have an open discussion on how we can leverage previous work in human factors and current work in cyber operations to continue to push the bounds of the field.

Effects of a Network-Centric Multi-Modal Communication Tool on a Communication Monitoring task:

Even with advanced collaborative technology, communication remains a critical component to mission success. With the shift towards network-centric warfare, standard radio communication needs to meet the needs of todays warfighter. A net-centric communication management suite called Multi-Modal Communication (MMC) had been developed. This integrated system captures, displays, records, and archives radio and text-based communication to better equip the warfighters. This study examined the performance associated with monitoring communication channels, with access to different tools. Operators monitored and responded to the occurrence of critical phrases presented during a 27-min communication-monitoring task. Communication performance was analyzed in regard to message detection, response accuracy, and time. Data showed that MMC provides a balance between the speed of radio listening and the accuracy and data-capturing capabilities of chat displays. MMC can be a beneficial tool to operators in its ability to increase intelligibly, while providing a persistent, searchable display that reduces perceived mental workload.

Measuring the Workload of Sustained Attention

The utility of a new measure of perceived mental workload in vigilance, The Multiple Resources Questionnaire (MRQ), was evaluated by comparing its sensitivity against that of the standard measure in this area, the NASA-TLX. Sensitivity was assessed in regard to the effects of a factor previously shown by the NASA-TLX to affect task demand, detecting stimulus presence/absence. Performance efficiency was significantly greater when critical signals for detection were defined by the presence of a target feature than by the absence of that feature. This effect was echoed in higher global workload scores for absence than presence when workload was measured by the NASA-TLX and by a modified version of the MRQ involving an increase in the response range for each item in the scale. Additionally, the MRQ identified resources utilized in the vigilance task that are not reflected in the standard measure. The results indicate that the new scale could be a useful adjunct to the older one.

Human Factors in Cyber Warfare: Alternative Perspectives

There has been a dramatic increase in the total number of reported cyber security breaches and attacks in recent years. In response, government, and corporate entities have invested billions of dollars in funding research and development efforts for cyber operations, including computer network defense (CND) and computer network attack (CNA). While cyber operations have become an important national priority over the last decade, the Human Factors community has yet to approach it with critical mass. In its purest form, cyber operations are a complex sociotechnical system that can have effects across all levels of an organization. Due to a consistent interplay between human cognition, technology, and organizational constraints within the environment, the Human Factors community is particularly well-suited to address the problem space. We have assembled a panel of six scientists, technologists, and subject matter experts across multiple specializations in the Human Factors community to help begin this increasingly important discussion. The goal of this panel is to have an open discussion on how we can leverage our specializations and expertise to address the cyber operations landscape as a community.

A Comparison of Cerebral Hemovelocity and Blood Oxygen Saturation Levels During Vigilance Performance

This study compared measures of cerebral blood flow velocity (CBFV) and blood oxygen saturation (rSO2), during the performance of a 40-min vigilance task. Observers monitored a simulated air-traffic control display for flight path deviations which occurred in a unidirectional or a multidirectional context. CBFV and rSO2 measures were secured from the medial cerebral arteries in the left and right cerebral hemispheres and from the corresponding frontal lobes, respectively. Performance efficiency was greater in the unidirectional than the multidirectional condition and declined over time in both conditions, more so in the multidirectional condition. This pattern of results was paralleled in different ways by the two hemodynamic measures. A result of this sort challenges the assumption of a close tie between cerebral blood flow and oxygen saturation (Siesjo, 1978) and supports recent findings (Mintun et al., 2001) that cerebral blood flow and oxygen levels are not tightly coupled in active brain states.

Individual Differences in Multimodal Waypoint Navigation

Waypoint navigation is a critical task for dismounted soldiers, especially when navigating through novel environments with potential threats. In these dangerous environments, the soldiers should have their “eyes-up” and “ears-out” scanning the environment for critical signals. Current practices for dismounted soldiers include the use of a compass and map or small wearable computer in order to navigate. In this experiment, we compared several modalities and multiple combinations of these modalities in waypoint navigation performance. These modalities include two visual (an egocentric and a geocentric map), 3D spatialized audio, tactile, and the multimodal combinations of each. We also examined individual differences in sense of direction as a potential moderator of display usage. Results provide preliminary evidence that localized 3D audio and haptics navigation aids are an intuitive, efficient, and effective means of waypoint navigation, regardless of sense of direction.

Stress and Workload Profiles of Network Analysis: Not All Tasks Are Created Equal

Effective cyber defense depends upon intrusion detection, i.e., the process of monitoring, detecting, and reacting appropriately to cyber activity threatening network security. Intrusion detection requires the execution of multiple unique, interdependent network analysis tasks. The current study aimed to expand understanding of cyber defense by separately assessing task induced workload and stress for two key network analyst tasks, triage analysis and escalation analysis, which are the first and second lines of cyber defense, respectively. In separate studies, participants assumed the role of either a triage analyst or an escalation analyst, performed associated intrusion detection duties in simulated cyber task environments, and reported task induced workload and stress. Findings suggest that, even though triage and escalation analysts are both engaged in cyber defense, their tasks result in differentiable workload and stress profiles. This highlights the need for further human factors research examining operator performance and state across network analyst roles.

Effects of Cyber Disruption in a Distributed Team Decision Making Task

Stories of cyber-attacks have been prevalent in the public media and the cyber security market has grown greatly to help meet this demand. However, much of the effort has been focused on development of better hardware and software solutions with little thought to the human factors of cyber security. This investigation sought to gain a better understanding of the influence cyber-attacks have on the decision-making and collaboration of distributed team members working together to solve a complex logic problem. Eight three-person teams worked together to piece together bits of information to solve a potential terrorist attack. The time and outcome scores were evaluated for the three experimental conditions, which varied the levels of information injected. The goal of the injected statements was to disrupt the decision-making and collaborative process. Injects that were explicitly negating true facts had the more detrimental effect on team performance while performance in the condition with injects that were more suggestive in nature were no different from the no inject condition. These results shed light into the breakdown in team decision-making when confronted with a contradictory fact thus aiding in our knowledge to build robust collaborative tools.

The Independence and Interdependence of Coacting Observers in Regard to Performance Efficiency, Workload, and Stress in a Vigilance Task:

Objective We investigated performance, workload, and stress in groups of paired observers who performed a vigilance task in a coactive (independent) manner. Background Previous studies have demonstrated that groups of coactive observers detect more signals in a vigilance task than observers working alone. Therefore, the use of such groups might be effective in enhancing signal detection in operational situations. However, concern over appearing less competent than one’s cohort might induce elevated levels of workload and stress in coactive group members and thereby undermine group performance benefits. Accordingly, we performed the initial experiment comparing workload and stress in observers who performed a vigilance task coactively with those of observers who performed the vigilance task alone. Method Observers monitored a video display for collision flight paths in a simulated unmanned aerial vehicle control task. Self-reports of workload and stress were secured via the NASA-Task Load Index and the Dundee Stress State Questionnaire, respectively. Results Groups of coactive observers detected significantly more signals than did single observers. Coacting observers did not differ significantly from those operating by themselves in terms of workload but did in regard to stress; posttask distress was significantly lower for coacting than for single observers. Conclusion Performing a visual vigilance task in a coactive manner with another observer does not elevate workload above that of observers working alone and serves to attenuate the stress associated with vigilance task performance. Application The use of coacting observers could be an effective vehicle for enhancing performance efficiency in operational vigilance.