Personality and physiological correlates of performance decrement on a monotonous task requiring sustained attention.

OAM report.PDFTech ReportFAA-AM-73-14DOT/FAA/AM-73/14Air traffic controlAttentionVigilanceAutomationDistractionPersonalityAptitude testsPhysiological aspectsPerformance measurementHeart rateTestingExperimentsHuman subject testingStatisticsAnalysis of varianceUnited StatesCivil Aerospace Medical InstituteThackray, Richard I.Jones, Karen N.Touchstone, Robert M.Civil Aeromedical InstituteUnited States. Office of Aviation MedicineNTL-AVIATION-Air Traffic ControlNTL-AVIATION-Aviation Human FactorsUS Transportation CollectionThe reductions in task load resulting from the increasing automation of air traffic control may actually increase the requirement for controllers to maintain high levels of sustained attention in order to detect infrequent system malfunctions. A previous study indicated that individuals scoring high on a distractibility scale found it difficult to maintain sustained attention on a monotonous, but perceptually demanding, task.The present study used the same serial reaction task to study other possible personality, as well as physiological, correlates of individual differences in performance decrement under low task-load conditions