Complex vigilance: Relevant and irrelevant signals

Abstract

48 male undergraduates serving as human monitors were required to detect additions and deletions of experimentally defined relevant signals which were presented via a computer on an 8 * 8 matrix display. The ratio of relevant to irrelevant stimuli on the display (20:10, 15:15, 10:20) and ratio of relevant to irrelevant signals or changes (40:20, 20:40/100 min period) were investigated. Vigilance decrements were found in the detection of omit signals with the greatest decrements occurring in the experiment condition where the proportion of relevant to irrelevant signal changes was smallest. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2025 APA, all rights reserved)