The Neuroergonomics of Vigilance

The Association Between Personality Traits and Health-Related Quality of Life and the Mediating Role of Smoking: Nationwide Cross-Sectional Study

Background

There are positive and negative correlations in different directions between smoking, personality traits, and health-related quality of life (HRQOL), where smoking may mask the pathway between personality traits and HRQOL. Understanding the masking pathway of smoking between personality traits and HRQOL can elucidate the mechanisms of smoking's psychosocial effects and provide new ideas for developing tobacco control strategies.

Objective

The purpose of this study was to investigate the correlation between Big Five personality traits and HRQOL and whether smoking mediates the relationship between them.

Methods

This was a cross-sectional study using data from 21,916 respondents from the 2022 Psychology and Behavior Investigation of Chinese Residents survey. Linear regression models were used to analyze the correlations between smoking, Big Five personality traits, and HRQOL while controlling for potential confounders. The mediating role of smoking on the association between Big Five Personality traits and HRQOL was analyzed using the Sobel-Goodman mediation test.

Results

Extraversion (β=.001; P=.04), agreeableness (β=.003; P<.001), and neuroticism (β=.003; P<.001) were positively correlated with HRQOL, whereas openness was negatively correlated with HRQOL (β=-.001; P=.003). Smoking was associated with a decrease in HRQOL and mediated the positive effect of HRQOL on extraversion (z=-2.482; P=.004), agreeableness (z=-2.264; P=.02), and neuroticism (z=-3.230; P=.001). Subgroup analyses further showed that smoking mediated the effect of neuroticism on HRQOL in the population with chronic illnesses (z=-2.724; P=.006), and in the population without chronic illnesses, smoking contributed to the effect of HRQOL on extraversion (z=-2.299; P=.02), agreeableness (z=-2.382; P=.02), and neuroticism (z=-2.213; P=.03).

Conclusions

This study provided evidence that there is a correlation between personality traits and HRQOL. It also found that smoking plays a role in mediating the connection between personality traits and HRQOL. The development of future tobacco control strategies should consider the unique traits of each individual's personality, highlighting the significance of extraversion, agreeableness, and neuroticism.

Auditory vigilance task performance and cerebral hemodynamics: effects of spatial uncertainty

The vigilance decrement, a temporal decline in detection performance, has been observed across multiple sensory modalities. Spatial uncertainty about the location of task-relevant stimuli has been demonstrated to increase the demands of vigilance and increase the severity of the vigilance decrement when attending to visual displays. The current study investigated whether spatial uncertainty also increases the severity of the vigilance decrement and task demands when an auditory display is used. Individuals monitored an auditory display to detect critical signals that were shorter in duration than non-target stimuli. These auditory stimuli were presented in either a consistent, predictable pattern that alternated sound presentation from left to right (spatial certainty) or an inconsistent, unpredictable pattern that randomly presented sounds from the left or right (spatial uncertainty). Cerebral blood flow velocity (CBFV) was measured to assess the neurophysiological demands of the task. A decline in performance and CBFV was observed in both the spatially certain and spatially uncertain conditions, suggesting that spatial auditory vigilance tasks are demanding and can result in a vigilance decrement. Spatial uncertainty resulted in a more severe vigilance decrement in correct detections compared to spatial certainty. Reduced right-hemispheric CBFV was also observed during spatial uncertainty compared to spatial certainty. Together, these results suggest that auditory spatial uncertainty hindered performance and required greater attentional demands compared to spatial certainty. These results concur with previous research showing the negative impact of spatial uncertainty in visual vigilance tasks, but the current results contrast recent research showing no effect of spatial uncertainty on tactile vigilance.

Vigilance to Spatialized Auditory Displays: Initial Assessment of Performance and Workload

OBJECTIVE

The present study was designed to evaluate human performance and workload associated with an auditory vigilance task that required spatial discrimination of auditory stimuli.

BACKGROUND

Spatial auditory displays have been increasingly developed and implemented into settings that require vigilance toward auditory spatial discrimination and localization (e.g., collision avoidance warnings). Research has yet to determine whether a vigilance decrement could impede performance in such applications.

METHOD

Participants completed a 40-minute auditory vigilance task in either a spatial discrimination condition or a temporal discrimination condition. In the spatial discrimination condition, participants differentiated sounds based on differences in spatial location. In the temporal discrimination condition, participants differentiated sounds based on differences in stimulus duration.

RESULTS

Correct detections and false alarms declined during the vigilance task, and each did so at a similar rate in both conditions. The overall level of correct detections did not differ significantly between conditions, but false alarms occurred more frequently within the spatial discrimination condition than in the temporal discrimination condition. NASA-TLX ratings and pupil diameter measurements indicated no differences in workload.

CONCLUSION

Results indicated that tasks requiring auditory spatial discrimination can induce a vigilance decrement; and they may result in inferior vigilance performance, compared to tasks requiring discrimination of auditory duration.

APPLICATION

Vigilance decrements may impede performance and safety in settings that depend on sustained attention to spatial auditory displays. Display designers should also be aware that auditory displays that require users to discriminate differences in spatial location may result in poorer discrimination performance than non-spatial displays.

Driver Vigilance Decrement is More Severe During Automated Driving than Manual Driving

OBJECTIVE

The present study compared the performance, workload, and stress associated with driver vigilance in two types of vehicle: a traditional, manually operated vehicle, and a partially automated vehicle.

BACKGROUND

Drivers of partially automated vehicles must monitor for hazards that constitute automation failures and the need for human intervention, but recent research indicates that a driver's ability to do so declines as a function of time. That research lacked a comparison measure of driving without vehicle automation, so it is unknown to what degree these effects are specific symptoms of monitoring the roadway during an automated drive. Drivers in manual control of their vehicle must similarly monitor for hazards and may suffer similar vigilance decrements.

METHOD

Participants completed a simulated 40-minute drive while monitoring for hazards. Half of participants completed the drive with an automated driving system that maintained speed and lane position; the remaining half manually controlled the vehicle's speed and lane position.

RESULTS

Driver sensitivity to hazards decreased and tendency to make false alarms increased over time in the automated control condition, but not in the manual control condition. Drivers in both conditions detected fewer hazards as the drive progressed. Ratings of workload and task-induced stress were elevated similarly in both conditions.

CONCLUSION

Partially automated driving appears to uniquely impair driver vigilance by reducing the ability to discriminate between benign and dangerous events in the driving environment as the drive progresses.

APPLICATION

Applied interventions should target improvements in driver sensitivity to hazardous situations that signal potential automation failures.

Effect of temperature reduction of the prefrontal area on accuracy of visual sustained attention

Objectives. Detection of sensitive signs in many work environments with automated systems (aviation industry, flight safety tower, maritime industry, monitoring in the military industry, etc.) is essential and requires constant visual attention. Therefore, the aim of this study was to investigate the effect of forehead cooling on the accuracy of stable visual attention. Methods. This interventional study was performed on 34 male students. The sampling method was a randomized block design. Subjects were assessed by demographic questionnaire, Snellen chart, Spielberger state-trait anxiety inventory (STAI) and physiological and cognitive measurements. Results. Prefrontal cortex (PFC) cooling caused significant changes in sublingual temperature during four measurements in the intervention group. There were no significant changes in heart rate, diastolic blood pressure and saturation of peripheral oxygen (%SpO2) between the two groups. The critical flicker frequency (CFF) as an indicator of cognitive fatigue showed that cognitive improvement after PFC cooling occurred following a reduction in cognitive fatigue. Conclusions. Considering the importance of choosing non-invasive methods to improve the operator's cognitive skills while performing cognitive tasks in the field of neuroergonomics, it can be concluded that PFC cooling is an effective and safe way to improve some cognitive skills such as visual attention.

Neuroergonomics on the Go: An Evaluation of the Potential of Mobile EEG for Workplace Assessment and Design

OBJECTIVE

We demonstrate and discuss the use of mobile electroencephalogram (EEG) for neuroergonomics. Both technical state of the art as well as measures and cognitive concepts are systematically addressed.

BACKGROUND

Modern work is increasingly characterized by information processing. Therefore, the examination of mental states, mental load, or cognitive processing during work is becoming increasingly important for ergonomics.

RESULTS

Mobile EEG allows to measure mental states and processes under real live conditions. It can be used for various research questions in cognitive neuroergonomics. Besides measures in the frequency domain that have a long tradition in the investigation of mental fatigue, task load, and task engagement, new approaches-like blink-evoked potentials-render event-related analyses of the EEG possible also during unrestricted behavior.

CONCLUSION

Mobile EEG has become a valuable tool for evaluating mental states and mental processes on a highly objective level during work. The main advantage of this technique is that working environments don't have to be changed while systematically measuring brain functions at work. Moreover, the workflow is unaffected by such neuroergonomic approaches.

Is Physiobehavioral Monitoring Nonintrusive? An Examination of Transcranial Doppler Sonography in a Vigilance Task

OBJECTIVE

The current study was designed to determine whether continuous, physiobehavioral monitoring via transcranial Doppler sonography (TCD) has negative effects on human performance or user state in a vigilance task.

BACKGROUND

Physiobehavioral measures have been identified as a promising method of user state assessment, in part because they are thought to be relatively nonintrusive. The notion that physiobehavioral measures are nonintrusive should not be taken for granted and needs to be tested empirically. It is possible that, even though physiobehavioral measures do not require input from a user, they may still hinder performance by causing discomfort, distraction, or interfering with physical activities required for task performance.

METHOD

The current study employed TCD, a common method of monitoring user vigilance. Participants completed a 40-min vigilance task. During the task, 50% wore TCD apparatus, while 50% did not. Intrusiveness was measured in terms of vigilance performance as well as workload, stress, and simulator sickness.

RESULTS

Analyses revealed results that mirrored prototypical vigilance findings: performance declined over time, workload was high, distress and reported simulator sickness symptomology increased during the task, while engagement decreased. The presence or absence of TCD monitoring had no direct or interactive effects on performance or user state.

CONCLUSION

TCD monitoring of user vigilance appears to be nonintrusive.

APPLICATION

Findings support the recommendation that TCD should be used in research and operational settings where user vigilance is of paramount importance. More broadly, when developing and fielding physiobehavioral state measurement systems, intrusiveness should be considered and evaluated.

Auditory spatial attention gradients and cognitive control as a function of vigilance

Selection and effort are central to attention, yet it is unclear whether they draw on a common pool of cognitive resources, and if so, whether there are differences for early versus later stages of cognitive processing. This study assessed effort by quantifying the vigilance decrement, and spatial processing at early and later stages as a function of time-on-task. Participants performed an auditory spatial attention task, with occasional "catch" trials requiring no response. Psychophysiological measures included bilateral cerebral blood flow (transcranial Doppler), pupil dilation, and blink rate. The shape of attention gradients using reaction time indexed early processing, and did not significantly vary over time. Later stimulus-response conflict was comparable over time, except for a reduction to left hemispace stimuli. Target and catch trial accuracy decreased with time, with a more abrupt decrease for catch versus target trials. Diffusion decision modeling found progressive decreases in information accumulation rate and non-decision time, and the adoption of more liberal response criteria. Cerebral blood flow increased from baseline and then decreased over time, particularly in the left hemisphere. Blink rate steadily increased over time, while pupil dilation increased only at the beginning and then returned towards baseline. The findings suggest dissociations between resources for selectivity and effort. Measures of high subjective effort and temporal declines in catch trial accuracy and cerebral blood flow velocity suggest a standard vigilance decrement was evident in parallel with preserved selection. Different attentional systems and classes of computations that may account for dissociations between selectivity versus effort are discussed.

The ANT Executive Control Index: No Evidence for Temporal Decrement

OBJECTIVE

This study tested whether indices of executive control, alertness, and orienting measured with Attention Network Test (ANT) are vulnerable to temporal decrement in performance.

BACKGROUND

Developing the resource theory of sustained attention requires identifying neurocognitive processes vulnerable to decrement. Executive control processes may be prone to impairment in fatigue states. Such processes are also highlighted in alternative theories. Determining the role of executive control in vigilance can both advance theory and contribute to practical countermeasures for decrement in human factors contexts.

METHOD

In Study 1, 80 participants performed the standard ANT for an extended duration of about 55 to 60 min. Study 2 (160 participants) introduced manipulations of trial blocking and stimulus degradation intended to increase resource depletion. Reaction time and accuracy measures were analyzed. Subjective stress and workload were assessed in both studies.

RESULTS

In both studies, the ANT induced levels of subjective workload and task disengagement consistent with previous sustained attention studies. No systematic decrement in any performance measure was observed.

CONCLUSION

Executive control assessed by the ANT is not highly vulnerable to temporal decrement, even when task demands are elevated. Future work should differentiate executive control processes; proactive control may be more implicated in sustained attention decrement than in reactive control.

APPLICATION

Designing systems and interfaces to reduce executive control demands may be generally beneficial but will not directly mitigate temporal performance decrement. Enhancing design guidelines and neuroergonomic methods for monitoring operator attention requires further work to identify key neurocognitive processes for decrement.

An Examination of Compensatory Effort in a Vigilance Task Using Transcranial Doppler Sonography

This study uses a novel neuroergonomic approach to determine whether blood flow to the frontal cortex is sensitive to task demands and indicative of compensatory effort regulation that may occur in response to the vigilance decrement. The present study used transcranial Doppler sonography (TCD) to examine the anterior cerebral artery (ACA) and its response to different demands of a vigilance task over time. Participants completed a vigilance task in a slow or fast event rate condition. The results demonstrated a vigilance decrement in both conditions and that workload was higher when the event rate was faster. However, blood flow velocity in the ACA did not change as a function of time, nor was it sensitive to the event rate manipulation. While previous research has shown that TCD is a useful neuroergonomic tool for vigilance monitoring, current results indicate that TCD monitoring of the ACA may not be worthwhile.

Driver Vigilance in Automated Vehicles: Effects of Demands on Hazard Detection Performance

OBJECTIVE

The current study investigated driver vigilance in partially automated vehicles to determine whether increased task demands reduce a driver's ability to monitor for automation failures and whether the vigilance decrement associated with hazard detections is due to driver overload.

BACKGROUND

Drivers of partially automated vehicles are expected to monitor for signs of automation failure. Previous research has shown that a driver's ability to perform this duty declines over time. One possible explanation for this vigilance decrement is that the extreme demands of vigilance causes overload and leads to depletion of limited attentional resources required for vigilance.

METHOD

Participants completed a 40-min drive in a simulated partially automated vehicle and were tasked with monitoring for hazards that represented potential automation failures. Two factors were manipulated to test the impact of monitoring demands on performance: Spatial uncertainty and event rate.

RESULTS

As predicted, hazard detection performance was poorer when monitoring demands were increased, and performance declined as a function of time on task. Subjective reports also indicated high workload and task-induced stress.

CONCLUSION

Drivers of partially automated vehicles are impaired by the vigilance decrement and elevated task demands, meaning that safe operation becomes less likely when the demands associated with monitoring automation increase and as a drive extends in duration. This study also supports the notion that vigilance performance in partially automated vehicles is likely due to driver overload.

APPLICATION

Developers of automation technologies should consider countermeasures that attenuate a driver's cognitive load when tasked with monitoring automation.

The Abbreviated Vigilance Task and Its Attentional Contributors

OBJECTIVE

To measure contributing attentional processes, particularly that of executive attention, to two iterations of the abbreviated vigilance task.

BACKGROUND

Joel Warm was at the forefront of vigilance research for decades, and resource theory is currently the dominant explanation for the vigilance decrement. The underlying mechanisms contributing to both overall performance and the decrement are only partly understood.

METHOD

Seventy-eight participants answered questionnaires about their attentional skills and stress state, performed the Attention Network Test and two blocks of the 12-min abbreviated vigilance task, with a brief break between the two vigils during which they viewed images intended to affect performance. Changes in oxygenated hemoglobin were measured with functional near-infrared imaging.

RESULTS

Expected patterns were observed for both iterations of the abbreviated vigilance task, with performance declining after the first 2 min. Manipulations intended to evaluate whether executive processes contributed to vigilance performance failed to observe an effect. Other factors, particularly orienting and alerting attentional networks, task engagement, and subclinical ADHD symptomology were associated with performance. Significant factors for the first and second vigilance blocks were different.

CONCLUSION

We suggest that (a) cognitive control is not a predominant factor, at least for the abbreviated vigilance task, and (b) attentional mechanisms and stress states affecting performance on the abbreviated vigilance task change over time.

APPLICATION

Potential applications of this research include the use of breaks for sustained attention tasks involving high sensory load, and implications for the use of the abbreviated vigilance task as a proxy for general vigilance processes.

Is Semantic Vigilance Impaired by Narrative Memory Demands? Theory and Applications

OBJECTIVE

Two verbal tasks were utilized in a dual-task paradigm to explore performance theories and prior dual-tasking results.

BACKGROUND

Both the decline in vigilance performance over time, or vigilance decrement, and limited dual-tasking ability may be explained by limited mental resources. Resource theorists would recommend removing task demands to avoid cognitive overload, while mindlessness theorists may recommend adding engaging task demands to prevent boredom. Prior research demonstrated interference between a verbal free recall and semantic vigilance task, but exploring tasks with greater ecological validity is necessary.

METHOD

A narrative memory task and semantic vigilance task were performed individually and simultaneously. Relative performance impairments were compared to a previous dual-task pairing.

RESULTS

The semantic vigilance task caused performance degradation to the narrative memory task and vice versa. A vigilance decrement was not observed, and the interference was to a lesser extent than when the semantic vigilance task was paired with a free recall task.

CONCLUSION

Resource theory was supported, though passive learning effects during a semantic vigilance task with novel stimuli may prevent a vigilance decrement. The interference was less than that of a previous similar dual-task pairing, but even tasks as routine as listening to a conversation or story can impair other task performance.

APPLICATION

A better understanding of resource theory and dual-task performance outcomes can help inform feasible task loads and improve efficiency and safety of operators in high-risk and other professions.

Measuring Sustained Attention and Perceived Workload

OBJECTIVE

We examined the effects of spatial uncertainty, field dependence/independence (FD/I), and sex on vigilance performance and perceived workload in elementary school children.

BACKGROUND

Building on previous work in which children demonstrated their ability to evaluate workload, we tested whether spatial-uncertainty manipulations in a vigilance task would elicit in children the same deleterious effects on performance and workload as it does with adults. We also examined individual difference effects associated with FD/I and sex to determine their influence on both performance and workload.

METHOD

In the low-uncertainty task, stimuli appeared in the center of the computer screen; in the high-uncertainty task, they appeared in one of the four quadrants of the screen. Neutral events consisted of uppercase letter strings. Critical signals consisted of a single lowercase letter among uppercase letters. Following each vigil, children completed a workload assessment via a modified version of the NASA Task Load Index.

RESULTS

Children showed lower perceptual sensitivity, greater response latency variability (RT^SD), and a higher response criterion in the uncertain display condition. Workload scores reflected these performance differences. Field-dependent children showed lower perceptual sensitivity and greater RT^SD than did field-independent children. The two groups exhibited differing workload profiles. Despite no objective performance differences, boys reported greater workload than girls.

CONCLUSION

The scale demonstrated sensitivity and diagnosticity with regard to both the task variable and individual differences.

APPLICATION

These findings contribute to the emerging field of "educational ergonomics" and indicate that appropriate assessment tools might identify children who are experiencing increased workload.