One of the greatest challenges facing military personnel deployed to combat zones is the threat of improvised explosive devices (IEDs). In spite of advances in IED detection technology, one of the best defenses against IEDs is the vigilant Soldier. The present study compares the vigilance performance of those who were provided knowledge of results (KR) during vigilance training, to those who did not have knowledge of results, using a video game-based vigilance task. KR was effective in improving vigilance, both during training and during a subsequent test phase in which no feedback was provided. These results indicate that video game-based methods may be useful for training sustained attention.
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