Beyond detection rate: understanding the vigilance decrement using signal detection theory
The vigilance decrement has been classically characterized as the decline in performance across time as individuals continuously attend to a task. Errors during these periods of degraded performance are often collectively characterized as failures of attention. Methodologically, the classic characte...
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Frontiers Media S.A.
2025-01-01
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| Series: | Frontiers in Cognition |
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| Online Access: | https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fcogn.2024.1505046/full |
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| author | Henri Etel Skinner Henri Etel Skinner Barry Giesbrecht Barry Giesbrecht |
| author_facet | Henri Etel Skinner Henri Etel Skinner Barry Giesbrecht Barry Giesbrecht |
| author_sort | Henri Etel Skinner |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | The vigilance decrement has been classically characterized as the decline in performance across time as individuals continuously attend to a task. Errors during these periods of degraded performance are often collectively characterized as failures of attention. Methodologically, the classic characterization of the vigilance decrement relies upon declines in detection rate, a binary measure that is unable to characterize performance beyond a single dimension. Theoretically, using a single construct, such as attention, to describe impaired performance obscures what is likely a range of behaviors. This is a critical issue for the study of vigilance because detection rate can be impacted both by changes in sensitivity and decision criterion. Commonly used tasks do not allow for the reliable computation of these metrics because they elicit a low number of false alarms or because they introduce confounding response demands. To address these shortcomings, we propose the use of a paradigm amenable to the application of the signal detection framework, which permits the reliable and isolated investigation of the vigilance decrement across multiple measures. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-b214097dcc044e1e8617c20b10280cc9 |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 2813-4532 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-01-01 |
| publisher | Frontiers Media S.A. |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Frontiers in Cognition |
| spelling | doaj-art-b214097dcc044e1e8617c20b10280cc92025-01-17T06:50:32ZengFrontiers Media S.A.Frontiers in Cognition2813-45322025-01-01310.3389/fcogn.2024.15050461505046Beyond detection rate: understanding the vigilance decrement using signal detection theoryHenri Etel Skinner0Henri Etel Skinner1Barry Giesbrecht2Barry Giesbrecht3Department of Psychological & Brain Sciences, University of California, Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara, CA, United StatesInstitute for Collaborative Biotechnologies, University of California, Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara, CA, United StatesDepartment of Psychological & Brain Sciences, University of California, Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara, CA, United StatesInstitute for Collaborative Biotechnologies, University of California, Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara, CA, United StatesThe vigilance decrement has been classically characterized as the decline in performance across time as individuals continuously attend to a task. Errors during these periods of degraded performance are often collectively characterized as failures of attention. Methodologically, the classic characterization of the vigilance decrement relies upon declines in detection rate, a binary measure that is unable to characterize performance beyond a single dimension. Theoretically, using a single construct, such as attention, to describe impaired performance obscures what is likely a range of behaviors. This is a critical issue for the study of vigilance because detection rate can be impacted both by changes in sensitivity and decision criterion. Commonly used tasks do not allow for the reliable computation of these metrics because they elicit a low number of false alarms or because they introduce confounding response demands. To address these shortcomings, we propose the use of a paradigm amenable to the application of the signal detection framework, which permits the reliable and isolated investigation of the vigilance decrement across multiple measures.https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fcogn.2024.1505046/fullvigilancesignal detection theorysustained attentionperformanceinattention |
| spellingShingle | Henri Etel Skinner Henri Etel Skinner Barry Giesbrecht Barry Giesbrecht Beyond detection rate: understanding the vigilance decrement using signal detection theory Frontiers in Cognition vigilance signal detection theory sustained attention performance inattention |
| title | Beyond detection rate: understanding the vigilance decrement using signal detection theory |
| title_full | Beyond detection rate: understanding the vigilance decrement using signal detection theory |
| title_fullStr | Beyond detection rate: understanding the vigilance decrement using signal detection theory |
| title_full_unstemmed | Beyond detection rate: understanding the vigilance decrement using signal detection theory |
| title_short | Beyond detection rate: understanding the vigilance decrement using signal detection theory |
| title_sort | beyond detection rate understanding the vigilance decrement using signal detection theory |
| topic | vigilance signal detection theory sustained attention performance inattention |
| url | https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fcogn.2024.1505046/full |
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