Will the real resource theory please stand up! Vigilance is a renewable resource and should be modeled as such

Abstract

The vigilance decrement or decline in signal detection performance with time on task is one of the most reliable findings in the cognitive neuroscience and psychology literatures. The majority of theories proposed to explain the decrement are limited cognitive or attention resource based theories; the central nervous system is a limited capacity processor. The decrement in performance is then due to resource reallocation (or misallocation), resource depletion or some combination of both mechanisms. The role of resource depletion, in particular, is hotly debated. However, this may be due to a lack of understanding of the renewable nature of the vigilance resources and how this renewal process impacts performance during vigilance tasks. In the present paper, a simple quantitative model of vigilance resource depletion and renewal is described and shown to generate performance data similar to results seen in both humans and spiders. This model clarifies the role resource depletion and resource renewal may play in vigilance in both people and other animals.