Performance, Hemodynamics, and Stress in a Two-Day Vigilance Task: Practical and Theoretical Implications

Area of Science:

• Cognitive Psychology
• Neuroscience
• Human Factors Engineering

Background:

• Vigilance tasks, or sustained attention, often show performance and cerebral blood flow velocity (CBFV) decline over time.
• High workload and stress are common in vigilance tasks.
• Previous research lacked multi-session within-subjects designs measuring CBFV, stress, and workload alongside performance.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate vigilance task performance, CBFV, workload, and stress in a within-subjects, two-session experiment.
• To examine the impact of practice on vigilance, physiological responses, and subjective experiences.
• To contribute to theoretical debates on vigilance mechanisms.

Main Methods:

• Participants completed a vigilance task in two separate sessions.
• Measures included task performance, CBFV, workload ratings, and self-reported stress.
• A within-subjects design was employed to compare performance across sessions.

Main Results:

• Within-session performance followed the typical vigilance decrement.
• Across sessions, overall performance improved, yet the time-on-task decrement persisted.
• Mean CBFV and workload did not differ between sessions; however, participants reported reduced distress and worry in session two.

Conclusions:

• Practice may enhance vigilance performance and lower stress without altering the fundamental vigilance profile.
• Repeated exposure to vigilance tasks might negatively impact operator engagement and potentially increase mind-wandering.
• Findings suggest practice benefits stress reduction but warrants further investigation into engagement declines.