Metrics
227 File views/ downloads
55 Record Views
Thesis
PERIODICITIES IN PERFORMANCE ON VISUAL CONTINUOUS PERFORMANCE TASKS
University of West Florida
Master of Arts (MA), University of West Florida
2008
Abstract
It is well known that biological rhythms play a prominent role in the modulation of human physiology and behavior. Recent research by Smith, Valentino, and Arruda (2003) suggests that sustained human performance may systematically fluctuate in a cyclic manner with periods of 1.5 min and 5.2 min. However, more traditional measures of sustained human performance have sampled behavior too infrequently to capture these fast rhythms. The purpose of the current study was to validate the periodicities reported previously by Smith et al. by employing nontraditional, ecologically valid continuous performance tasks (i.e., a visual pointtracking task and a driving simulator task). The majority of participants demonstrated the 1.5 min periodicity for both tasks; however, few participants demonstrated the 5.2 min periodicity. These rhythms may be indicative of an endogenous system that modulates sustained attention in humans. Evidence supporting this idea and implications of the research are discussed.
Details
- Title
- PERIODICITIES IN PERFORMANCE ON VISUAL CONTINUOUS PERFORMANCE TASKS
- Resource Type
- Thesis
- Publisher
- University of West Florida
- Format
- text
- Identifiers
- 99380090848206600
- Academic Unit
- Psychology
- Language
- English
- Awarding Institution
- University of West Florida; Master of Arts (MA)
- Theses and Dissertations
- Master of Arts (MA), University of West Florida