Individual Differences in Cognitive Flexibility Predict Performance in Vigilance Tasks

Abstract

‘Real-world’ vigilance tasks are difficult to perform because they require sustained and divided attention. The present study investigated whether individual differences in a person’s cognitive flexibility, the ability to abandon one cognitive strategy in favor of another, can predict performance on a vigilance task. Sixty-one undergraduate students from California State University, Northridge participated in this study. The Wisconsin Card Sorting Task was used to measure participants’ level of cognitive flexibility. Vigilance was examined using a multi-screened Clock Task. Participants then performed either a nine-minute Static or Dynamic Clock task. Two variables of cognitive flexibility were found to predict signal detection. Cognitive flexibility may eventually become a useful individual difference measure that can help provide insight for vigilance training strategies.