The development and validation of a short-duration sustained visual search task for process control environments

This study was designed to validate a short-duration sustained visual search task for the assessment of sustained attention in process control environments. The task consists of 10 short dynamic scenarios, which require participants (N = 121) to monitor simulated operating power transmission interfaces, and identify system faults. A vigilance decrement was demonstrated throughout the sustained visual search task, as evident in increased response latencies and decreased accuracy over time. Further, changes in response latency throughout the sustained visual search task were positively associated with changes in response latency during a 30-min, low signal probability task, a 45-min low signal probability task, and a 45-min high signal probability task. The findings indicate that the sustained visual search task may be a valid alternative to a longer-duration process control task for experimental studies, and is likely to be of value for assessments of the capacity for sustained attention of operators in process control environments.