Browsing by Subject "Vigilance (Psychology)"
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Item A study of the combined effects of intrinsic and extrinsic motivation on the performance of an auditory vigilance task(Texas Tech University, 1974-05) Haston, Adrian GNot availableItem Adaptive training: a methodology for studying the attentional deficit of learning disabled children.(Texas Tech University, 1975-08) Hopson, Julie ANot availableItem An evaluation of the classification of hyperkinetic children with the Vigilance task and the Matching familiar figures test(Texas Tech University, 1982-08) Simoneaux, John C.The accurate diagnosis and placement of hyperactive children has been recognized as critical in the planning and implementation of psycho-educational Interventions aimed at ameliorating the difficulties these children inevitably encounter. The importance of correctly identifying hyperactive children is underscored when the typical interventions for treating the disorder are considered. The side-effects of medication are sometimes worse than the disorder. Two objective instruments (the Vigilance Task and the Matching Familiar Figures Test) surfaced as potentially useful in diagnosing this disorder. One-hundred children (27 hyperactives, 27 learning disabled, 46 "normals") were administered the Vigilance Task and the MFFT, Both stepwise and direct discriminant analyses failed to demonstrate that these tests had adequate discriminating abilities. Only 56% of the, children in the study were correctly classified when the yielded discriminant function was applied. The most promising single measure was the correct detections score on the Vigilance Task which presumably taps the attentional deficit component of hyperactivity. The tests were found not to discriminate significantly better when the subjects were made more homogenous (e.g., sex, age), The trend was for the scores of the larger group of hyperactives and learning disabled children to be similar to each other and different from the "normal" group. Scores on the two tests did correlate to some degree with each other in the expected directions, indicating that they probably measure similar, or coexisting phenomena. Adequate split-half reliability data were obtained for both instruments. Teachers and mothers strongly agreed that the children in the hyperactive group displayed hyperactive behavior patterns. A slight relationship was found between Slosson IQ scores and correct detections on the Vigilance Task,Item An evaluation of the classification of hyperkinetic children with the Vigilance task and the Matching familiar figures test(Texas Tech University, 1982-08) Simoneaux, John C.The accurate diagnosis and placement of hyperactive children has been recognized as critical in the planning and implementation of psycho-educational interventions aimed at ameliorating the difficulties these children inevitably encounter. The importance of correctly identifying hyperactive children is underscored when the typical interventions for treating the disorder are considered. The sideeffects of medication are sometimes worse than the disorder, Two objective instruments (the Vigilance Task and the Matching Familiar Figures Test) surfaced as potentially useful in diagnosing this disorder.Item An evaluation of the effects of vigilance performance upon the automatic process of frequency estimation(Texas Tech University, 1986-05) Brenner, Richard NeilPast research has shown that subject gender and mental load may have significant effects upon performance. In studies where gender differences have been reported, males have been found to be superior to females on vigilance tasks. However, it was suggested here that this is resultant from traditional male superiority on symbolic tasks, in that vigilance tasks have traditionally utilized symbolic stimuli. It was expected that the traditional performance, as would increased mental load. The Hasher and Zacks' (1979) hypothesis of event frequency as an automatic process was examined, as subjects in this study were asked to estimate the frequency of the stimuli they saw during the vigilance phase of the experiment. The automaticity • hypothesis in question suggests that frequency estimation should not be affected by subjects' performance on a distractor task, assuming exposure to the stimuli to be tested is sufficient. The vigilance task served as a means of measuring subjects' attention to the to-be-tested stimuli. It was hypothesized here that, contrary to the automaticity hypothesis, vigilance performance would be positively related to frequency estimation performance. It was found that for verbal stimuli, males and females performed equally on both vigilance and frequency estimation tasks, and that performance was better for verbal stimuli than for symbolic stimuli on both tasks. Males outperformed females on vigilance for symbolic stimuli, providing some support for the concept that male vigilance superiority is related to the type of information presented. While the automaticity hypothesis does not explain why frequency estimation of symbolic stimuli is poorer than that of verbal stimuli, the lack of a clear relationship between attention and frequency estimation found in this study does support Hasher and Zacks' contention.Item Coping with monotony in visual search: a strategy for improving vigilance performance(Texas Tech University, 1989-12) Pesot, Joseph FNot availableItem Effects of training and signal probability information on vigilance performance(Texas Tech University, 1982-05) Unger, Kenneth WilliamNot availableItem Missed signals and the vigilance decrement: an information processing approach(Texas Tech University, 1987-08) Swope, J. GeoffreyIn visual detection tasks that require sustained attention, missed signals represent an ever-present danger due to the potential consequences of detection failure. Despite its relative importance, the cause of missed signals has not been clearly established. Most empirical data on vigilance performance has been concerned with the detection of signals. There are two explanations for why observers miss signals. One is that the observers do not perceive the information when it is presented. A second possible explanation is that the information is perceived, but the information is not translated into a correct response. Traditional vigilance paradigms have failed to show whether any information regarding missed signals is encoded into memory. In the present study, two vigilance tasks were used that required observers to make successive discriminations on verbal stimuli to at least an orthographic level to determine whether an event was a signal. The task event rates were either slow (15 events/minute) or fast (30 events/minute). To determine what information regarding missed signals was encoded into memory, observer frequency estimates, recognition, and recall of signal items from the vigilance task were evaluated. Results from the vigilance tasks support the general findings of the differential effect of background event rate. In the fast-event-rate task, response latency was constant, detection performance declined substantially over time, and false alarms decreased with time on task. In the slow-event-rate task, observers showed increasingly longer response times with time on task, but maintained a high correct detection rate. False alarms decreased with time on task. The data from the memory tests suggest that observers can recognize detected signals (hits) at a greater-than-chance proficiency. Observers did not show recognition for missed signals. Free recall was poor for any information in the vigilance task. Frequency of occurrence estimates were not accurate, and did not support any general conclusion regarding frequency processing. The results from both the vigilance and memory portions of the present study are explained by a limited capacity, control processing model of human information processing.Item Operant conditioning of the mental retardate's visual monitoring behavior(Texas Tech University, 1972-05) Perryman, Roy EldredNot availableItem Performance characteristics of Mexican American children on measures of hyperactivity and hypoactivity(Texas Tech University, 1982-12) Madrigal, Julio FernandoNot availableItem Personality variables as predictors of performance on a prolonged monitoring task(Texas Tech University, 1973-08) Sanders, Michael Gary,Not availableItem Signal complexity, response complexity, and signal specification in vigilance.(Texas Tech University, 1974-12) Childs, Jerry MichaelNot availableItem Social facilitation in vigilance: coaction and evaluation effects(Texas Tech University, 1977-08) Roth, James ThomasNot availableItem The applicability of vigilance laboratory research to a simulated industrial inspection task(Texas Tech University, 1971-05) Belt, John A..Item The effect of differential payoff matrices upon vigilance performance(Texas Tech University, 1970-08) Blackwell, Peggy JaniceNot availableItem The Effect of Discrimination Type, Event Rate, and Target Load on Vigilance Performance(Texas Tech University, 1982-12) Glaser, Howard JustinNot Available.Item The effect of event rate on sustained attention and stress states in a simultaneous vigilance task paradigm(Texas Tech University, 2002-05) Bush, Jason MSee, Howe, Warm, and Dember (1995) performed a meta-analysis on previous studies of vigilance. Their results suggested that manipulating the following variables produced sensory decrements in vigilance tasks: discrimination task type (simultaneous versus successive), event rate (low versus high), and stimulus type (sensory versus cognitive). The aim of the present study was to examine one of these variables, namely event rate. Specifically, the study assessed the effects of varying levels of event rate on vigilance performance using a sensory simultaneous vigilance task paradigm. A further aim of the study was to understand the effects of task demands on vigilance performance. Resource theory contends that performance on vigilance tasks decreases as task demands increase; and that attentional resources are drained under high task demand conditions (Wickens, 1984). In contrast, Hancock and Warm (1989) argued that levels of both low and high task demands can have a negative impact on performance, resulting in conditions of underload and overload, respectively. Our results suggest that observers experience conditions of overload as task demands (i.e., event rate) increase. Observers, however, did not experience conditions of underload as task demands (i.e., event rate) decreased. These results are consistent with Resource Theory (Wickens, 1984) rather than the Adaptation Model (Hancock & Warm, 1989). Additional results are discussed in relation to the See et al. (1995) meta-analysis and the effect of event rate on stress states. Such results have both theoretical and practical implications.Item The effect of stimulus type, memory load on vigilance performance(Texas Tech University, 1984-12) Lee, Tzai-zangNot availableItem The effect of work load history on operational errors in air traffic control simulation: the hysteresis effect -- expectancy perseverance or short-term memory overload?(Texas Tech University, 1990-12) Smolensky, Mark WayneMost laboratory investigations of simple vigilance tasks and complex monitoring tasks have assessed performance with the underlying premise of an invariable work load. That is, signal probabilities within sessions have traditionally been held constant. This, however, limits the generalizability of the results since real-life vigilance and complex monitoring tasks require operators to work under widely varying levels of work load. Air Traffic Control Specialists (ATCSs), for example, must monitor their radarscopes during varying levels of air traffic activity and complexity within a work shift and consequently their work load varies accordingly. Among the handful of laboratory investigations that have assessed monitoring performance within the context of intrasession work load variability, the most dramatic behavioral patterns noted have been either a performance decrement in signal detection efficiency under moderate or low work load immediately subsequent to a period of high work load (Colquhoun and Baddeley, 1964, 1967; Krulewitz, Warm and Wohl, 1975) or a disproportionate recovery of performance to reduction in work load (Gumming and Croft, 1973; Goldberg and Stewart, 1980). These studies emphasized the importance of work load history in assessing monitoring performance for a given time period. Evidence for these performance decrements in operational settings is best represented by its documented occurrence in air traffic control (ATC) where operational errors (OEs) are reported to occur most often under low to moderate levels of work load (Aviation Safety Institute, 1974; Allnutt, 1976) and particularly when immediately preceded by a period of high work load (Biggs, 1979). Two predominant explanations have been offered for the occurrence of these performance decrements in the laboratory. One explanation is that the operator establishes certain expectancies concerning signal:event ratios during a monitoring session that persevere even after signal probabilities shift downward (Gumming and Croft, 1973). An alternate explanation is that there exists a temporal disparity between short-term memory (STM) information processing and transmission that causes the STM buffer to become overloaded (Goldberg and Stewart, 1980). The STM buffer continues to be overloaded for a time even after signal probabilities shift downward. The purpose of this dissertation is to investigate, through the process of controlled simulation, the role of expectancy perseverance and STM overload in the performance decrements that are collectively referred to as the hysteresis effect. Forty-five psychology students served as ATCSs for two onehour sessions. Students were selected on the basis of their scores on a former Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) ATCS entrance exam. Those students passing the exam were instructed in basic ATC techniques and in the use of the PC-based ATC simulation package, TRACON. This software served as the radarscope in a full-scale, low-to-moderate fidelity mockup of a Terminal Radar and Approach Control (TRACON) workstation. An ATC session began with low task demand, rose to either a high or moderate task demand approximately 20 minutes in the session, remained at that level for 20 minutes and then decreased sharply to low task demand and remained at the low task demand for the remainder of the session. To test the explanation that expectancy perseverance is the cause of the hysteresis effect, each participant experienced a cue treatment indicating either a forthcoming downward shift in task demand from the current demands of the task or a continuance of the current task demand, and a no cue treatment. For the cue treatment, both a visual cue and a verbal cue were given simultaneously immediately prior to the downward shift in task demand. To test the explanation that STM overload is the cause of the hysteresis effect, participants experienced either a high to low, moderate to low, or high to high (no shift) task demand session. Sessions were recorded on videotape. OEs were recorded, transcribed and coded from the videotapes. OEs were categorized using a taxonomy of Handoff, Keying, Navigational, Pilot and Memory errors. It was reasoned that if the hysteresis effect is due to the perseverance of expectancies, then performance should be effected by cueing since the establishment and maintenance of expectancies is primarily a matter of perception based on information regarding the recent history and present circumstances of the situation and any aids that provide information regarding forthcoming parameters of the situation should serve to assist performance. For the data to support a perseverance of expectancies theory, a performance decrement would have to occur under both high to low task demand and moderate to low task demand and the decrement would be ameliorated by cueing in both cases. It was reasoned that if the hysteresis effect is due to the cognitive hardware limitations of the human information processing system, namely, the STM store, then performance should not be dramatically effected by perceptual aids such as cueing. For the data to support a STM overload theory, a performance decrement would have to occur under high to low task demands and not under moderate to low task demands (since the STM memory buffer would never be overloaded in the latter case) and would not be ameliorated by cueing under the high to low task demand shift. LThe pattern of results do not clearly indicate support for either theory. Rather, the results for Handoff, Keying, Navigational, and Pilot OEs provide support for the perseverance of expectancies hypothesis and the results for Memory OEs provide support for the STM overload hypothesis. Furthermore, results indicate presence of the two patterns of the hysteresis effect. Non-Memory OEs display a tendency for the OE rate to lag behind a reduction in task demand while Memory OEs display a tendency to rise immediately after a sudden downward shift in task demands. Although information concerning OEs in ATC has been gathered since 1964, there have been few studies designed to analyze the existing information. Therefore, relatively little is known of the types of errors that ATCSs make and why they make them. At least in the case of ATC, it can be concluded that there is support for the both explanations for the hysteresis effect that is dependent upon the category of OEs being considered. This information could be invaluable to the enhancement of future ATCS performance. Successful ATCS performance depends, to a great degree, on the reliable recall of relevant information in STM (e.g., aircraft, destinations, altitudes, etc), as well as prior knowledge of forthcoming changes in work load. A clear understanding of the role of memory and establishment of expectancies in the ATCS's strategic model could lead to the development of effective cueing and memory aids that can help ensure the availability of accurate essential data/information when it is needed. A memory lapse, or even a delay, during a critical point such as a downward work load shift can lead to serious consequences such as conflicting tracks and inadequate separation between aircraft, or flight into terrain obstacles. Similarly, sudden, unexpected changes in work load could disrupt the flow, or, mental picture that the ATCS has established to perform the job efficiently. Thus, memory and cueing aids which would efficiently facilitate recall of critical information and inform of forthcoming changes in work load would be of great value.Item The effects of different schedules of knowledge of results on the vigilance behavior of hyperactive learning disabled children(Texas Tech University, 1975-08) Mack, Cary NelsonIn the past few years, there has been considerable interest and concern related to the diagnosis and treatment of learning disabilities in children. Several programs of assessment and remediation have become popular. This may be an unfortunate state of affairs, however, in that most of the commonly used programs are based on what Scott (1970) called speculative neurological and genetic interpretations. Sprague (1973), speaking of Scott's analysis of the situation, noted that such speculations abound in the absence of sound empirical data.