Vigilance performance under hypoxia

Abstract

Tested vigilance performance by 20 young male military Ss on a 2-hr brightness discrimination task under 4 levels of hypoxia: 21% oxygen (sea level), 12.8% oxygen (13,000 ft.), 11.8% oxygen (15,000 ft.), and 10.9% oxygen (17,000 ft.). Results indicate a significant decrement in signal detection as a function of severity of hypoxia and task duration. Analyses of d' and BETA show a significant decrease in detectability of the signal as a function of hypoxia, but no change in caution of decision making. Individual variation in performance was related to field dependence as measured by the Embedded Figure Test (EFT). EFT score correlated negatively with false detection rate, and positively with RT and d', indicating a negative relationship between field dependence and vigilance performance. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2025 APA, all rights reserved)