Abstract
We examined the effect of cognitive factors on the development of automaticity in a complex task. Participants (n = 24) performed a luggage screening task where we manipulated stimulus mapping (consistent vs. varied), frame size (small vs. large), memory set size (1 vs. 4) and time constraint, and examined their effects on participants' sensitivities, criterion shifts and confidence. Results revealed that the highest cognitive advantage in terms of high sensitivities and minimal deviations from optimal beta was afforded by the combination of small memory sets and consistent mapping of targets, after extended practice. Varied mapping of stimuli under high memory loads exerted a negative effect on sensitivities and induced a greater shift from optimal beta. The concurrence of high memory loads with varied mapping also led to decreases in confidence that hindered automatic detection of targets. The results have implications for training individuals to develop appropriate decision-making strategies in complex vigilance tasks.
Highlights
Several complex tasks in the world today ranging across fields such as aviation, military and healthcare require operators to develop highly skilled and automated levels of performance in response to critical stimuli
The present paper is focused on examining cognitive factors that affect the development of automaticity in a complex environment characterized by high demands for vigilance, varying levels of task difficulty, multiple targets and time constraints
Since highly cluttered bags are more typical of the real world than less cluttered luggage and the combination of a small MSS, CM, practice and low time constraint presented a more significant cognitive advantage on highly cluttered images, we present results only for the highly cluttered images below
Summary
Several complex tasks in the world today ranging across fields such as aviation, military and healthcare require operators to develop highly skilled and automated levels of performance in response to critical stimuli. The development of automaticity is important as these environments are characterized by multiple stimuli and distractors, as well as environmental variables such as time pressure and workload that challenge performance in the absence of a practiced skill set. The present paper is focused on examining cognitive factors that affect the development of automaticity in a complex environment characterized by high demands for vigilance, varying levels of task difficulty, multiple targets and time constraints. Under varied-mapping conditions wherein stimuli may be targets in one instance but distractors in another, performance occurs under controlled processing, which is voluntary, serial, and requires attention.
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