Victoria L. Claypoole

A critical examination of the research and theoretical underpinnings discussed in Thomson, Besner, and Smilek (2016).

Thomson, Besner, and Smilek (2016) propose that performance decrements associated with sustained attention are not consistently the result of a decline in perceptual sensitivity. Thomson et al. (2016) present empirical evidence using a novel, nontraditional vigilance task to support their assumptions. However, in the present rebuttal, we argue that the authors have not only have misinterpreted previous research in sustained attention, but also have misapplied those interpretations to their study. Thomson et al. have also neglected key elements of the literature in their argument, including research on expectancy theory and individual differences on vigilance performance. Furthermore, Thomson and colleagues implement an experimental paradigm that is not appropriate for evaluating sensitivity and bias changes in vigilance tasks. Finally, their analyses do not capture the manner in which changes in response bias and sensitivity can manifest in signal detection theory. We discuss the theoretical and experimental issues contained in Thomson et al. (2016) and propose suggestions for future vigilance research in this area.

Examining social facilitation in vigilance: a hit and a miss

Abstract Vigilance is the ability of an observer to maintain attention for extended periods of time; however, performance tends to decline with time on watch, a pattern referred to as the vigilance decrement. Previous research has focused on factors that attenuate the decrement; however, one factor rarely studied is the effect of social facilitation. The purpose for the present investigation was to determine how different types of social presence affected the performance, workload and stress of vigilance. It was hypothesised that the presence of a supervisory figure would increase overall performance, but may occur at the cost of increased workload and stress. Results indicated that the per cent of false alarm and response times decreased in the presence of a supervisory figure. Using social facilitation in vigilance tasks may thus have positive, as well as, negative effects depending on the dependent measure of interest and the role of the observer. Practitioner Summary: Social facilitation has rarely been examined in the context of vigilance, even though it may improve performance. Vigilance task performance was examined under social presence. The results of the present study indicated that false alarms and response times decreased in the social presence of a supervisory figure, thus improving performance.

Social norms and cognitive performance A look at the vigilance decrement in the presence of supervisors

Vigilance, or the ability to sustain attention over prolonged periods of time, is an important component of tasks in a wide variety of settings. A large body of research has demonstrated that performance on these tasks declines with time on watch, a pattern referred to as the vigilance decrement. One factor that has been mostly neglected in prior research is the effect of the presence of a supervisory person during a vigilance task. The purpose of the present investigation was to determine the effect of the presence of a supervisory figure on the performance, perceived workload, and stress associated with vigilance. It was hypothesized that the presence of a supervisory figure would increase overall performance and also attenuate the vigilance decrement. However, it was also expected to increase the perceived workload and stress associated with the task.

Can vigilance tasks be administered online? A replication and discussion.

Recently, experimental studies of vigilance have been deployed using online data collection methods. This data collection strategy is not new to the psychological sciences, but it is relatively new to basic research assessing vigilance performance, as studies in this area of research tend to collect data in the laboratory or in the field. The present study partially replicated the results of a newly developed online vigilance task (Thomson, Besner, & Smilek, 2016). A sample of 130 participants completed the semantic vigilance task created by Thomson et al. (2016) in a research laboratory setting. The present results replicated Thomson et al. (2016) when nonparametric and corrected signal detection measures were used. We suggest that some vigilance tasks typically performed in the laboratory could be administered online. However, we encourage researchers to consider the following factors prior to studying vigilance performance online: (a) the type of vigilance task, (b) the length of the vigilance task, and (c) the signal detection indices most appropriate for their research. It is quite possible that some analyses may yield significant results, whereas other signal detection measures may not (i.e., parametric indices vs. nonparametric indices vs. “corrected” indices) and this point is discussed further in our article.

Independent Coactors May Improve Performance and Lower Workload: Viewing Vigilance Under Social Facilitation

Objective: The purpose of the present study was to examine the effects of an independent coactor on vigilance task performance. It was hypothesized that the presence of an independent coactor would improve performance in terms of the proportion of false alarms while also increasing perceived workload and stress. Background: Vigilance, or the ability to maintain attention for extended periods, is of great interest to human factors psychologists. Substantial work has focused on improving vigilance task performance, typically through motivational interventions. Of interest to vigilance researchers is the application of social facilitation as a means of enhancing vigilance. Social facilitation seeks to explain how social presence may improve performance. Method: A total of 100 participants completed a 24-min vigil either alone or in the presence of an independent (confederate) coactor. Participants completed measures of perceived workload and stress. Results: The results indicated that performance (i.e., proportion of false alarms) was improved for those who completed the vigil in the presence of an independent coactor. Interestingly, perceived workload was actually lower for those who completed the vigil in the presence of an independent coactor, although perceived stress was not affected by the manipulation. Conclusion: Authors of future research should extend these findings to other forms of social facilitation and examine vigilance task performance in social contexts in order to determine the utility of social presence for improving vigilance. Application: The use of coactors may be an avenue for organizations to consider utilizing to improve performance because of its relative cost-effectiveness and easy implementation.

Exploring the Effects of Extraversion on Social Facilitation and Vigilance Task Performance

Vigilance, or sustained attention, is the ability to maintain attention for extended periods of time. Recently, research on vigilance has focused on identifying individual differences and task design factors that may improve cognitive-based vigilance performance. One such factor is social facilitation, which leads to improved task performance when at least one individual is present. But, relatively little is known about the personality factors, such as extraversion or introversion, which may influence the effects of social presence, and in turn affect vigilance performance. Given this gap in the literature, the present research seeks to determine how personality, specifically extraversion, is related to vigilance performance in the presence of another individual. A total of 39 observers completed a 24-minute vigilance task either alone, in the mere presence of another person, or in the evaluative presence of another person (i.e., an individual monitoring their performance). The results indicated that extraversion was negatively correlated to the proportion of correct detections and sensitivity (A’).

Sex Differences in the Stress and Workload of Lexical Vigilance

Lexical vigilance requires sustained attention to lexical, verbal, and semantic information over a prolonged period of time. The perceived stress and workload that typically accompany the performance of these tasks remains relatively unknown. Thus, in the present study 213 observers were assigned to either a standard lexical vigilance task or a ‘lure’ vigilance task, which required additional decision-making criteria. The results were analyzed for sex differences between the conditions and across multiple measures of perceived stress and workload. These analyses indicated that women and men perceive the stress and workload associated with lexical vigilance tasks differently. More specifically, women reported greater post-task distress and more temporal demand associated with the task than men. Interestingly, men reported the task being more physically demanding than women. The implications of these results are discussed further.

Sex Differences in Lexical Vigilance Performance

Lexical vigilance is the ability to sustain attention to lexical, semantic, and language-related stimuli, such as words or symbols, for extended periods of time. One gap in the empirical investigation of lexical vigilance is the assessment of sex differences in the performance of these tasks. In the present study, a sample of 213 observers completed a 12-minute lexical vigilance task. Observers were randomly assigned to either a standard task, which required individuals to respond to critical signals and withhold response to neutral events, or a lure task, which required individuals to respond to critical signals while withholding response to neutral events and lures (i.e., stimuli that are categorically similar in nature to critical signals). The results indicated that women and men perform the lure and standard tasks differently depending upon the condition to which they are assigned. Specifically, an inverse relationship was observed between the sexes and conditions in signal detection indices of sensitivity and response bias. We discuss the implications of these results below.

The Effects of Event Rate on a Cognitive Vigilance Task

Objective: The present experiment sought to examine the effects of event rate on a cognitive vigilance task. Background: Vigilance, or the ability to sustain attention, is an integral component of human factors research. Vigilance task difficulty has previously been manipulated through increasing event rate. However, most research in this paradigm has utilized a sensory-based task, whereas little work has focused on these effects in relation to a cognitive-based task. Method: In sum, 84 participants completed a cognitive vigilance task that contained either 24 events per minute (low event rate condition) or 40 events per minute (high event rate condition). Performance was measured through the proportion of hits, false alarms, mean response time, and signal detection analyses (i.e., sensitivity and response bias). Additionally, measures of perceived workload and stress were collected. Results: The results indicated that event rate significantly affected performance, such that participants who completed the low event rate task achieved significantly better performance in terms of correction detections and false alarms. Furthermore, the cognitive vigil utilized in the present study produced performance decrements comparable to traditional sensory vigilance tasks. Conclusion: Event rate affects cognitive vigilance tasks in a similar manner as traditional sensory vigilance tasks, such that a direct relation between performance and level of event rate was established. Application: Cognitive researchers wishing to manipulate task difficulty in their experiments may use event rate presentation as one avenue to achieve this result.

Ceci n’est pas un walrus: lexical processing in vigilance performance

Vigilance, or the ability to sustain attention for extended periods of time, has traditionally been examined using a myriad of symbolic, cognitive, and sensory tasks. However, the current literature indicates a relative lack of empirical investigation on vigilance performance involving lexical processing. To address this gap in the literature, the present study examined the effect of stimulus meaning on vigilance performance (i.e., lure effects). A sample of 126 observers completed a 12-min lexical vigilance task in a research laboratory. Observers were randomly assigned to a standard task (targets and neutral events only) or a lure task (lures, targets, and neutral events presented), wherein lures were stimuli that were categorically similar to target stimuli. A novel analytical approach was utilized to examine the results; the lure groups were divided based on false alarm performance post hoc. Groups were further divided to demonstrate that the presence of lure stimuli significantly affects the decision-making criteria used to assess the performance of lexical vigilance tasks. We also discuss the effect of lure stimuli on measures related to signal detection theory (e.g., sensitivity and response bias).