Skill development in vigilance: effects of event rate and age.
Thirty-six young (19-27 years), middle-aged (40-55 years), and old (70-80 years) adults performed a 30-min vigilance task at low (15 per min) and high (40 per min) event rates for 20 sessions. Skill-acquisition curves modeled on power, hyperbolic, and exponential functions were predicted. With extensive practice, hit rates increased and false-alarm rates decreased to virtually asymptotic levels. Skill development was best described by the hyperbolic function. Practice reduced but did not eliminate the vigilance decrement in all subjects. The event-rate effect--the decrease in hit rate at high event rates--was reduced with practice and eliminated in young subjects. Hit rates decreased and false-alarm rates increased with age, but there was little attenuation of age differences with practice. Implications for theories of vigilance, skill development, and cognitive aging are discussed.
Parasuraman
R
R
Department of Psychology, Catholic University of America, Washington, DC 20064.
Giambra
L
L
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over / Q000523:psychology; D000375:Aging / Q000523:psychology*; D001143:Arousal; D001288:Attention; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D011939:Mental Recall; D008875:Middle Aged; D011214:Practice, Psychological; D011597:Psychomotor Performance; D011930:Reaction Time; D012153:Retention, Psychology; D012718:Set, Psychology