Effects Of Boredom Proneness And Cueing On Performance And Workload In Cognitive Vigilance

The impact of computer technology has increased the relative importance of cognitive vigilance. The difference between cognitive vigilance and sensory vigilance were observed and cognitive vigilance was becoming increasingly important. In addition, the fact was found that in vigilance research much was known about environmental stressors (circadian rhythms, heat, noise, and illumination) but that very little was know about cognitive stressors (boredom and command pressure) and operator overload.Two experiments were conducted to examine the effects of boredom proneness and cueing on performance and workload in cognitive vigilance.The experiment 1 examined the effects of boredom proneness (BP) and signal rate on performance and state boredom in cognitive vigilance. Subjects completed the Boredom Proneness Scale and were assigned to high and low groups based on their scores. Half the subjects were assigned to complete high signal rate task (40 signals/10 mins), and the remaining subjects were assigned to low signal rate task (10 signals/10 mins). Subjects also provided pre- and postvigil ratings of state boredom. The results showed that individuals' boredom proneness might predict vigilance performance. Low-BP subjects outperformed high-BP subjects. The subjects in high signal rate task outperformed the subjects in low signal rate task and reported less state boredom.The experiment 2 examined the effects of cueing and knowledge of results on workload in cognitive vigilance. Subjective estimates of workload were measured by NASA-TLX. Four experimental groups were employed: full-cueing, no full-cueing, knowledge of results and control group. Subjects were randomly assigned to one of the four groups. The results showed that high levels of workload were observed in cognitive vigilance and full-cueing was associated with low workload. In addition, the results supported the direct cost model: the workload of vigilance originates in the task requirements.