scholarly journals Pupillometry and the vigilance decrement: Task-evoked but not baseline pupil measures reflect declining performance in visual vigilance tasks

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Joel Thomas Martin ◽  
Annalise Whittaker ◽  
Stephen Johnston
Keyword(s):  
Performance Measures ◽  
Pupil Size ◽  
Vigilance Task ◽  
Behavioral Performance ◽  
Practical Application ◽  
Vigilance Decrement ◽  
Fitness For Duty ◽  
Psychomotor Vigilance ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
And Task

Baseline and task-evoked pupil measures are known to reflect the activity of the nervous system's central arousal mechanisms. With the increasing availability, affordability and flexibility of video-based eye tracking hardware, these measures may one day find practical application in real-time biobehavioral monitoring systems to assess performance or fitness for duty in tasks requiring vigilant attention. But real-world vigilance tasks are predominantly visual in their nature and most research in this area has taken place in the auditory domain. Here we explore the relationship between pupil size—both baseline and task-evoked—and behavioral performance measures in two novel vigilance tasks requiring visual target detection: 1) a traditional vigilance task involving prolonged, continuous, and uninterrupted performance (n = 28), and 2) a psychomotor vigilance task (n = 25). In both tasks, behavioral performance and task-evoked pupil responses declined as time spent on task increased, corroborating previous reports in the literature of a vigilance decrement with a corresponding reduction in task-evoked pupil measures. Also in line with previous findings, baseline pupil size did not show a consistent relationship with performance measures. We discuss our findings considering the adaptive gain theory of locus coeruleus function and question the validity of the assumption that baseline (prestimulus) pupil size and task-evoked (poststimulus) pupil measures correspond to the tonic and phasic firing modes of the LC.

scholarly journals The relationship between alertness and spatial attention under simulated shiftwork

2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
D. Chandrakumar ◽  
J. Dorrian ◽  
S. Banks ◽  
H. A. D. Keage ◽  
S. Coussens ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Spatial Attention ◽  
Health And Safety ◽  
Reaction Times ◽  
Vigilance Task ◽  
Detection Task ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Tentative Evidence ◽  
Stanford Sleepiness Scale ◽  
Psychomotor Vigilance ◽  
The Relationship

Abstract Higher and lower levels of alertness typically lead to a leftward and rightward bias in attention, respectively. This relationship between alertness and spatial attention potentially has major implications for health and safety. The current study examined alertness and spatial attention under simulated shiftworking conditions. Nineteen healthy right-handed participants (M = 24.6 ± 5.3 years, 11 males) completed a seven-day laboratory based simulated shiftwork study. Measures of alertness (Stanford Sleepiness Scale and Psychomotor Vigilance Task) and spatial attention (Landmark Task and Detection Task) were assessed across the protocol. Detection Task performance revealed slower reaction times and higher omissions of peripheral (compared to central) stimuli, with lowered alertness; suggesting narrowed visuospatial attention and a slight left-sided neglect. There were no associations between alertness and spatial bias on the Landmark Task. Our findings provide tentative evidence for a slight neglect of the left side and a narrowing of attention with lowered alertness. The possibility that one’s ability to sufficiently react to information in the periphery and the left-side may be compromised under conditions of lowered alertness highlights the need for future research to better understand the relationship between spatial attention and alertness under shiftworking conditions.

scholarly journals A-11 Fatigue and Errors in Aeromedicine (FEAr) Pilot Study

2019 ◽  
Vol 34 (6) ◽  
pp. 870-870
Author(s):  
J Nosker ◽  
A Cornelius ◽  
M Lassen ◽  
T Bragg
Keyword(s):  
Risk Assessment ◽  
Pilot Study ◽  
Construct Validity ◽  
Vigilance Task ◽  
Efficiency Score ◽  
Data Synthesis ◽  
Fitness For Duty ◽  
Two Measures ◽  
Psychomotor Vigilance ◽  
Mean Reaction Time

Abstract Objective The FEAr pilot study was conducted to evaluate the construct validity of an instrument that measures self-reported fatigue levels among air medics (the Flight Risk Assessment [FRA] measure). Data Selection The population of interest, flight medics, is highly specialized and relatively small. As a result, non-probability, convenience sampling was used (N = 27). The participants were recruited from one air medical company with bases located across ten western states. Medics took two measures, the FRA and the PVT, three times a day, for three days. Data Synthesis To establish construct validity, scores on the FRA were compared to scores on the Psychomotor Vigilance Task (PVT), which is a widely used and validated measure to detect fatigue in field settings. The results of the study indicate that a total of five questions on the FRA was significantly and moderately correlated with the PVT efficiency score (r = -.49, p = .01). The mean reaction time was also significantly correlated with the total FRA score (r = .59, p = .001). Notably, perceived fitness for duty was poorly correlated with fatigue levels as measured by the FRA (r < .01). Conclusions The results of this study contribute to a very limited body of research on fatigue among air medical providers. Specifically, the study contributes to the knowledge about the construct validity of the Flight Risk Assessment, which can be used to evaluate fatigue among air medics. Further analysis can assist in determining appropriate cutoff scores to inform time-out policies for medics.

scholarly journals Propensity to intentional and unintentional mind-wandering differs in arousal and executive vigilance tasks

PLoS ONE ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 16 (10) ◽  
pp. e0258734
Author(s):  
Víctor Martínez-Pérez ◽  
Damián Baños ◽  
Almudena Andreu ◽  
Miriam Tortajada ◽  
Lucía B. Palmero ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Vigilance Task ◽  
Mind Wandering ◽  
Progressive Increase ◽  
Resource Control ◽  
Time On Task ◽  
Vigilance Decrement ◽  
Task Execution ◽  
Attentional Resources ◽  
Response Task ◽  
Psychomotor Vigilance

We typically observe a decrement in vigilance with time-on-task, which favors the propensity for mind-wandering, i.e., the shifting of attention from the task at hand to task-unrelated thoughts. Here, we examined participants’ mind-wandering, either intentional or unintentional, while performing vigilance tasks that tap different components of vigilance. Intentional mind-wandering is expected mainly when the arousal component is involved, whereas unintentional mind-wandering is expected mainly in tasks involving the executive component. The Psychomotor Vigilance Task (PVT) assessed the arousal component, whereas the Sustained Attention to Response task (SART) assessed the executive component of vigilance. The two types of mind-wandering were probed throughout task execution. The results showed that the overall rate of mind-wandering was higher in the PVT than in the SART. Intentional mind-wandering was higher with the PVT than with the SART, whereas unintentional mind-wandering was higher with the SART than with the PVT. Regarding mind-wandering as a function of vigilance decrement with time-on-task, unintentional mind-wandering in the PVT increased between blocks 1 and 2 and then stabilized, whereas a progressive increase was observed in the SART. Regarding intentional mind-wandering, a progressive increase was only observed in the SART. The differential patterns of intentional and unintentional mind-wandering in both tasks suggest that, intentional mind wandering occurs mainly in arousal tasks in which propensity to mind-wander has little impact on task performance. However, unintentional mind-wandering occurs mainly in executive tasks as a result of a failure of cognitive control, which promotes attentional resources to be diverted toward mind-wandering. These results are discussed in the context of the resource-control model of mind-wandering.

Task Engagement and the Vigilance Decrement Revisited: Expanding Upon the Work of Joel S. Warm Using a Semantic Vigilance Paradigm

2019 ◽  
Vol 61 (3) ◽  
pp. 462-473 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alexis R. Neigel ◽  
Daryn A. Dever ◽  
Victoria L. Claypoole ◽  
James L. Szalma
Keyword(s):  
Semantic Processing ◽  
Target Identification ◽  
Vigilance Task ◽  
Task Engagement ◽  
Threat Detection ◽  
Vigilance Decrement ◽  
Vigilance Performance ◽  
Long Duration ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Standard Semantic

Objective: The goal of the present study is twofold: (1) demonstrate the importance of measuring and understanding the relationship between task engagement and vigilance performance, and (2) celebrate the work of Joel S. Warm and expand upon his previous research in two semantic vigilance paradigms. Background: The importance of measuring task engagement in cognitive and sensory vigilance tasks has been well documented. But to date, our understanding of the effects of task engagement on semantic vigilance performance is limited. Method: Seventy-three participants completed either a standard semantic vigilance task or a lure semantic vigilance task. Participants also completed subjective measures of workload and stress. Results: The results indicated that changes in task engagement are associated with correct detection performance. Changes in task engagement may be related to individual differences in the distress associated with performing semantic vigilance tasks. Conclusion: In line with the work of Warm and his colleagues (Dember, Warm, Bowers, & Lanzetta, 1984), participants who reported increased task engagement after the vigil outperformed their peers who noted decreased task engagement upon conclusion of the task. Participants reporting increases in engagement with the semantic vigilance tasks also reported significantly greater distress pretask, but not posttask. Instead, increases in postvigil distress were driven by the task to which participants were assigned, not task engagement. Application: The present study has several implications for applied settings that involve long duration semantic processing or semantic target identification. Such real-world tasks include aviation, cyber threat detection and analysis, driving, and reading.

The Effects of Block Duration and Task Demands on the Experience of Task Unrelated Thought

2002 ◽  
Vol 22 (1) ◽  
pp. 13-31 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jonathan Smallwood ◽  
Marc Obonsawin ◽  
Helga Reid
Keyword(s):  
Vigilance Task ◽  
Task Demands ◽  
Block Length ◽  
Conscious Awareness ◽  
Length Effect ◽  
Controlled Processing ◽  
Task Irrelevant ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Fluency Task ◽  
And Task

Evidence indicates that the degree to which attention can be maintained upon the task in hand depends upon both the type and duration of the task. Two experiments investigated the relationship between task irrelevant thinking and block duration in two types of task. In Experiment One, a vigilance task was compared to a fluency task and in Experiment Two a verbal encoding task was compared to a fluency task. In both tasks we investigated the hypothesis that block duration mediated changes in thinking would be smallest for tasks which rely heavily on controlled processing (the fluency task). Results were consistent with expectations and indicated that the report of thoughts with no relationship to the task in hand increased with block duration in the vigilance task (Experiment One) and the verbal encoding task (Experiment Two). In neither experiment did block length effect thinking during the fluency task. These results are broadly consistent with the assertion that tasks that cannot be readily automated, maintain attention upon the task at hand in a superior fashion as the duration of the block increases. The implications of these results for our understanding of the process responsible for our conscious awareness of a stimulus and our ability to plan and anticipate events are discussed.

scholarly journals The Relationship between Alertness and Spatial Attention under Simulated Shiftwork

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dilushi Chandrakumar ◽  
Jill Dorrian ◽  
Siobhan Banks ◽  
Hannah AD Keage ◽  
Scott Coussens ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Spatial Attention ◽  
Health And Safety ◽  
Reaction Times ◽  
Vigilance Task ◽  
Detection Task ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Tentative Evidence ◽  
Stanford Sleepiness Scale ◽  
Psychomotor Vigilance ◽  
The Relationship

Higher and lower levels of alertness typically lead to a leftward and rightward bias in attention, respectively. This relationship between alertness and spatial attention potentially has major implications for health and safety. The current study examined alertness and spatial attention under simulated shiftworking conditions. Nineteen healthy right-handed participants (M=24.6±5.3 years, 11 males) completed a seven-day laboratory based simulated shiftwork study. Measures of alertness (Stanford Sleepiness Scale and Psychomotor Vigilance Task) and spatial attention (Landmark Task and Detection Task) were assessed across the protocol. Detection Task performance revealed slower reaction times and higher omissions of peripheral (compared to central) stimuli, with lowered alertness; suggesting narrowed visuospatial attention and a slight left-sided neglect. There were no associations between alertness and spatial bias on the Landmark Task. Our findings provide tentative evidence for a slight neglect of the left-side and a narrowing of attention with lowered alertness. The possibility that one’s ability to sufficiently react to information in the periphery and the left-side may be compromised under conditions of lowered alertness highlights the need for future research to better understand the relationship between spatial attention and alertness under shiftworking conditions.

scholarly journals A unified model of the task-evoked pupil response

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Charlie S Burlingham ◽  
Saghar Mirbagheri ◽  
David J. Heeger
Keyword(s):  
Pupil Size ◽  
Alternative Model ◽  
Task Difficulty ◽  
Behavioral Performance ◽  
Trial Duration ◽  
Pupil Response ◽  
Neural Input ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Response Timing ◽  
And Task

The pupil dilates and re-constricts following task events. It is popular to model this task-evoked pupil response as a linear transformation of event-locked impulses, the amplitudes of which are used as estimates of arousal. We show that this model is incorrect, and we propose an alternative model based on the physiological finding that a common neural input drives saccades and pupil size. The estimates of arousal from our model agreed with key predictions: arousal scaled with task difficulty and behavioral performance but was invariant to trial duration. Moreover, the model offers a unified explanation for a wide range of phenomena: entrainment of pupil size and saccade occurrence to task timing, modulation of pupil response amplitude and noise with task difficulty, reaction-time dependent modulation of pupil response timing and amplitude, a constrictory pupil response time-locked to saccades, and task-dependent distortion of this saccade-locked pupil response.

scholarly journals Reliability and Validity of a 3-minute Psychomotor Vigilance Task (PVT) in Assessing Sensitivity to Sleep Loss and Alcohol: Fitness for Duty in Aviation and Transportation

SLEEP ◽  
2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sibylle Benderoth ◽  
Hans-Jürgen Hörmann ◽  
Caroline Schießl ◽  
Eva-Maria Elmenhorst
Keyword(s):  
Alcohol Intake ◽  
High Reliability ◽  
Reliability And Validity ◽  
Vigilance Task ◽  
Sleep Loss ◽  
Psychomotor Vigilance Task ◽  
Fitness For Duty ◽  
Handheld Device ◽  
Psychomotor Vigilance ◽  
Assessing Sensitivity

Abstract Study Objectives The psychomotor vigilance task (PVT) is a widely used objective method to measure sustained attention, but the standard 10-min version is often impractical in operational settings. We investigated the reliability and validity of a 3-min PVT administered on a portable handheld device assessing sensitivity to sleep loss and alcohol in relation to a 10-min PVT and to applied tasks. Methods Forty-seven healthy volunteers underwent a 12 consecutive days sleep lab protocol. A cross-over design was adopted including total sleep deprivation (TSD, 38 hours awake), sleep restriction (SR, 4 h sleep opportunity), acute alcohol consumption, and SR after alcohol intake (SR/Alc 4 h sleep opportunity). Participants performed a 10-min and 3-min PVT and operationally-relevant tasks related to demands in aviation and transportation. Results Sleep loss resulted in significant performance impairments compared to baseline measurements detected by both PVT versions – particularly for mean speed (both p &lt; .001) - and the operationally-relevant tasks. Similar effects were observed due to alcohol intake (speed: both p &lt; .001). The 3-min and 10-min PVT results were highly correlated (speed: between r = .72 and r = .89). Three of four aviation related tasks showed robust correlations with the 3-min PVT. Correlations with the parameters of the task related to transportation were lower, but mainly significant. Conclusion The 3-min PVT showed a high reliability and validity in assessing sleep loss and alcohol induced impairments in cognitive performance. Thus, our results underline its usefulness as potential fitness for duty self-monitoring tool in applied settings.

Linking perceived organizational support for strengths use to task performance

2020 ◽  
Vol 48 (3) ◽  
pp. 1-10 ◽  
Author(s):  
He Ding ◽  
Enhai Yu ◽  
Yanbin Li
Keyword(s):  
Positive Affect ◽  
Task Performance ◽  
Organizational Support ◽  
Structural Equation ◽  
Perceived Organizational Support ◽  
Equation Modeling ◽  
Strengths Use ◽  
Managerial Implications ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
And Task

We investigated the mediating effects of positive affect and strengths use in the relationship between perceived organizational support for strengths use (POSSU) and employees' task performance. Data were gathered at 2 time points, separated by a 2-week interval, from 157 employees working in various Chinese enterprises. We applied structural equation modeling and PROCESS macro analysis to the data. The results indicate that POSSU was positively related to task performance and that this relationship was mediated by strengths use. In addition, positive affect and strengths use played a sequential mediating role in the relationship between POSSU and task performance. However, positive affect was not a significant mediator in the POSSU–task performance relationship. Theoretical and managerial implications are discussed in the context of the literature on POSSU and task performance.

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