Responses in a manual tracking and visual detection task.
To investigate interference between the sustained and occasional attention required in driving, performance of 36 participants engaged in a focal manual tracking task and a peripheral detection task, representing sustained and occasional attention, respectively, was studied. Error ratio, tracking distance, tracking speed, and root mean squared tracking distance error were taken for manual tracking, and response times were measured on the detection task. Analysis indicated that multiple tasks or highly sustained attentional demands preceded lower performance on sustained attention tasks. Performance on occasional attention tasks after multiple tasks may also decrease, but occasional attention performance improved when the participants were engaged concurrently in a task involving higher sustained attention. Furthermore, the association between sustained and occasional attention was strengthened as the number of tasks or the demands of sustained attention increased.
Liu
Chau-Chyun
CC
Department of Mechanical Engineering, National Central University Tatung University, Taipei, Taiwan.
Doong
Ji-Liang
JL
Lin
Chih-Yung
CY
Lai
Ching-Huei
CH
Jeng
Ming-Chang
MC
Hwang
Jiun-Ren
JR
D000054:Acceleration; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D001288:Attention; D001334:Automobile Driving / Q000523:psychology*; D003118:Color Perception; D003198:Computer Simulation; D004215:Distance Perception; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009949:Orientation; D010364:Pattern Recognition, Visual; D011597:Psychomotor Performance; D014794:Visual Fields; D055815:Young Adult