scholarly journals Do We Really Need More Stages? Comparing the Effects of Likelihood Alarm Systems and Binary Alarm Systems

Author(s):  
Anna Zirk ◽  
Rebecca Wiczorek ◽  
Dietrich Manzey

Objective This research investigates the potential behavioral and performance benefits of a four-stage likelihood alarm system (4-LAS) contrasting a 3-LAS, a binary alarm system with a liberal threshold (lib-BAS), and a BAS with a conservative threshold (con-BAS). Background Prior research has shown performance benefits of 3-LASs over conventional lib-BASs due to more distinct response strategies and better discriminating true from false alerts. This effect might be further enhanced using 4-LASs. However, the increase in stages could cause users to reduce cognitive complexity by responding in the same way to the two lower and the two higher stages, thus treating the 4-LAS like a con-BAS. Method All systems were compared using a dual-task paradigm. Response strategies, number of joint human machine (JHM) false alarms (FAs), misses, and sensitivity were regarded. Results Compared with the lib-BAS, JHM sensitivity only improved with the 4-LAS and the con-BAS. However, the number of JHM misses was lowest for the con-BAS compared with all other systems. Conclusion JHM sensitivity improvements can be achieved by using a 4-LAS, as well as a con-BAS. However, only the latter one may also reduce the number of JHM misses, which is remarkable considering that BASs with conservative thresholds a priori commit more inbuilt misses than other systems. Application Results suggest implementing conservative BASs in multi-task working environments to improve JHM sensitivity and reduce the number of JHM misses. When refraining from designing systems which are miss prone, 4-LASs represent a suitable compromise.

Author(s):  
James P. Bliss ◽  
Patrick E. McAbee

Technological advances in visual and auditory alarm systems have enabled these systems to be easily implemented. Frequently, the resulting increase in alarm sensitivity is accompanied by an increase in false alarms, which may have potentially disastrous implications for complex task performance. Previous research has examined the nature of the cry-wolf effect in a dual-task paradigm and noted the influence of alarm criticality on alarm response performance. The goals of this research were to supplement that effort by examining the effect of primary task criticality on alarm responses. Seventy-eight undergraduate students performed the Manikin test from the DELTA battery while being presented alarms, 75% of which were true. A series of oneway ANOVAs assessed the effects of increasing primary task criticality on alarm responses. The results supported our hypotheses, indicating that as primary task criticality increased, participants’ responses to alarms were degraded. The results are discussed with regard to human performance theories.


2014 ◽  
Vol 45 (3) ◽  
pp. 239-245 ◽  
Author(s):  
Robert J. Calin-Jageman ◽  
Tracy L. Caldwell

A recent series of experiments suggests that fostering superstitions can substantially improve performance on a variety of motor and cognitive tasks ( Damisch, Stoberock, & Mussweiler, 2010 ). We conducted two high-powered and precise replications of one of these experiments, examining if telling participants they had a lucky golf ball could improve their performance on a 10-shot golf task relative to controls. We found that the effect of superstition on performance is elusive: Participants told they had a lucky ball performed almost identically to controls. Our failure to replicate the target study was not due to lack of impact, lack of statistical power, differences in task difficulty, nor differences in participant belief in luck. A meta-analysis indicates significant heterogeneity in the effect of superstition on performance. This could be due to an unknown moderator, but no effect was observed among the studies with the strongest research designs (e.g., high power, a priori sampling plan).


2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stefan Huijser ◽  
Niels Anne Taatgen ◽  
Marieke K. van Vugt

Preparing for the future during ongoing activities is an essential skill. Yet, it is currently unclear to what extent we can prepare for the future in parallel with another task. In two experiments, we investigated how characteristics of a present task influenced whether and when participants prepared for the future, as well as its usefulness. We focused on the influence of concurrent working memory load, assuming that working memory would interfere most strongly with preparation. In both experiments, participants performed a novel sequential dual-task paradigm, in which they could voluntary prepare for a second task while performing a first task. We identified task preparation by means of eye tracking, through detecting when participants switched their gaze from the first to the second task. The results showed that participants prepared productively, as evidenced by faster RTs on the second task, with only a small cost to the present task. The probability of preparation and its productiveness decreased with general increases in present task difficulty. In contrast to our prediction, we found some but no consistent support for influence of concurrent working memory load on preparation. Only for concurrent high working memory load (i.e., two items in memory), we observed strong interference with preparation. We conclude that preparation is affected by present task difficulty, potentially due to decreased opportunities for preparation and changes in multitasking strategy. Furthermore, the interference from holding two items may reflect that concurrent preparation is compromised when working memory integration is required by both processes.


1988 ◽  
Vol 78 (4) ◽  
pp. 1538-1549
Author(s):  
Giuseppe Grandori ◽  
Elisa Guagenti ◽  
Federico Perotti

Abstract A statistical analysis of the foreshock-main shock correlation for a seismically active region in Italy is presented. It is found that the probability that a weak shock be followed within 2 days by a main shock is of the order of 2 per cent, while the probability that a main shock be preceded by a foreshock is of the order of 50 per cent. These results are quite similar to those found by L. Jones (1985) for southern California. The effectiveness of alarm systems based on a pair of short-term earthquake precursors is then analyzed. In particular, the analysis shows under what conditions the precursor, consisting of potential foreshocks, could be combined with another precursor to provide a reasonably effective alarm system.


2021 ◽  
Vol Publish Ahead of Print ◽  
Author(s):  
Sofie Degeest ◽  
Katrien Kestens ◽  
Hannah Keppler

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