Abstract
Two experiments were conducted to determine the effect of variation in pretask instructions on performance on a simple vigilance task. In both experiments one group was told that the task would be challenging (Group C) and the other group, that the task would be monotonous (Group M). In Experiment 1 time-related decrements were found in the percentage of correct signal detections and in the number of incorrect responses. The results of Experiment 2 indicated time-related decrements, but no group differences, in percentage of correct detections. Group M also made progressively fewer false alarms, while false-alarm rates for GTOUP C did not change over time. Differences in mechanisms underlying performance decrements are discussed.
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