Abstract
Vigilance is an important facet of animal life andparticularly so in relation to three areas: external danger, the exploitation of environmental resources, and intraspecific communication. The second of these involves, in addition to vigilance, an active search of the environment. The organization of the nervous system, however, imposes certain limitations on the effectiveness of vigilance and these are described, with particular reference to experimental studies of vigilance in man. Three types of strategy are then described which function to offset the neural limitations on vigilance. These are: neural mechanisms, individual behavioural strategies, and social strategies. These are considered in relation to those areas of life already defined as requiring a watchkeeping function.
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