Abstract
Two experiments were conducted to assess the relative effects of signal density and regularity on watchkeeping performance. In Experiment I, three levels of density (6, 24, and 96 signals/hr.) were combined factorially with three levels of variability (coefficients of variation of 0.01, 0.10, and 1.00), and 10 Ss were assigned at random to each of the nine conditions. In Experiment II, five levels of density (6, 12, 24, 48, and 96 signals/hr.) were combined with the same three levels of variability, and 13 Ss were assigned to each condition. Each 5 monitored a visual “blinking-lights” display for an hour under instructions to detect and report the occurrence of certain “critical signals,” i.e., arrests of alternation of the lights. Response times (RT’s) to correctly detected signals in both experiments decreased as a linear function of logarithmic increases in signal density. An uncertainty metric, the signal surprisal due to density, was derived, and the watchkeeper’sRT was expressed as an increasing linear function of this measure of temporal uncertainty. Interpretation of these and other data support a functional, psychophysical approach to the study of watchkeeping behavior.
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Supported in part by the U. S. Army Medical Research and Development Command, Department of the Army, under Research Contract No. DA-49-193-MD-2567, “Behavioral Effects of Infectious Diseases.” Experiment I is based in part on a doctoral dissertati m submitted by the senior author to the Graduate School at Emory University; the dissertation was completed under the direction of the most junior author. Experiment II was conducted principally by the two junior authors at the University of Louisville. All three authors contributed to the analysis and interpretation of the data.
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Smith, R.P., Warm, J.S. & Alluisi, E.A. Effects of temporal uncertainty on watchkeeping performance. Perception & Psychophysics 1, 293–299 (1966). https://doi.org/10.3758/BF03207394
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.3758/BF03207394