Two models that seek to explain the high workload associated with vigilance tasks are the direct-cost and indirect-cost views. The former attributes the elevated workload to the high information-processing demand of the task; the latter attributes it to efforts to combat the boredom associated with monotonous vigilance tasks. A recent study by Hitchcock et al. (1999) provided support for the direct-cost view by showing that it is possible to lower the workload of vigilance through reductions in the information-processing load while leaving task-induced boredom unaffected. This study provides converging evidence for the direct-cost view: allowing observers to listen to a stress-reducing musical selection, Heart Zones, during a vigil lowered boredom while leaving the perceived workload of the task unaffected. The beneficial effect of the musical selection was limited to boredom; it had no impact upon post-vigil feelings of loss of task engagement and distress.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
BehH. C.HirstR. (1999). Performance on driving-related tasks during music. Ergonomics, 42, 1087–1098.
2.
DaviesD. R.ParasuramanR. (1982). The psychology of vigilance. London, NY: Academic Press.
3.
FolkmanS.MoskowitzJ. T. (2000). Stress, positive emotion, and coping. Current Issues in Psychological Science, 9, 115–118.
4.
FredricksonL. (2001). The role of positive emotions in positive psychology: The broaden-and-build theory of positive emotions. American Psychologist, 56, 218–226.
5.
FurnhamA.StrbacL. (2002). Music is as distracting as noise: The differential distraction of background music and noise on the cognitive test performance of introverts and extraverts. Ergonomics, 45, 203–217.
6.
HancockP. A.DesmondP. A. (Eds.) (2001). Stress, workload, and fatigue. Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum.
7.
HartS. G.StavelandL. E. (1998). Development of NASA-TLX (Task Load Index): Results of empirical and theoretical research. In HancockP.A.MeshkatiN. (Eds.), Human mental workload (pp. 139–183). Amsterdam: North-Holland.
8.
HartleyL. R.WilliamsT. (1977). Steady state noise and music in vigilance. Ergonomics, 20, 277–285.
9.
HeltonW. S.DemberW. N.WarmJ. S.MatthewsG. (1999). Optimism-pessimism and false failure feedback: Effects on vigilance performance. Current Psychology, 18, 311–325.
10.
HitchcockE. M.DemberW. N.WarmJ. S.MoroneyB. W.SeeJ. E. (1999). Effects of cueing and knowledge of results on workload and boredom in sustained attention. Human Factors, 41, 365–372.
11.
KellarisJ. J.KentR. J. (1992). The influence of music on consumers' temporal perceptions: Does time fly when you're having fun?Journal of Consumer Psychology, 1, 365–376.
12.
MatthewsG. (2001). A transactional model of driver stress. In HancockP. A.DesmondP. A. (Eds.), Stress, Workload, and Fatigue (pp. 133–163). Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum.
13.
MatthewsG.CampbellS. E.FalconerS.JoynerL. A.HugginsJ.GillilandK.GrierR.WarmJ. S. (in press). Fundamental dimensions of subjective state in performance settings: Task engagement, distress, and worry. Emotion.
14.
MatthewsG.DesmondP. A. (1998). Personality and multiple dimensions of task-induced fatigue: A study of simulated driving. Personality and Individual Differences, 25, 443–458.
15.
MatthewsG.JoynerL.GillilandK.CampbellS.FalconerS.HugginsJ. (1999). Validation of a comprehensive stress state questionnaire: Towards a state ‘big three’? In MervieldeI.DrearyI. J.DeFruytF.OstendorfF. (Eds.), Personality psychology in Europe (vol. 7) (pp. 335–350). Tilburg: Tilburg University Press.
16.
MaxwellS. E.DelaneyH. D. (1990). Designing experiments and analyzing data: A model comparison perspective. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth Publishing.
17.
McCratyR.AtkinsonM.ReinG.WatkinsA. (1996). Music enhances the effect of positive emotional states on salivary IgA. Stress Medicine, 12, 167–175.
18.
McGrathJ. J. (1963). Irrelevant stimulation and vigilance performance. In BucknerD.N.McGrathJ.J. (Eds.), Vigilance: A symposium (pp. 3–21) New York: McGraw Hill.
19.
NachreinerF.HanekeK. (1992). Vigilance. In SmithA. P.JonesD. M. (Eds.), Handbook of human performance: State & trait (vol. 3) (pp. 261–288). London: Academic Press.
20.
NickersonR. S. (1992). Looking ahead: Human factors challenges in a changing world. Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum.
21.
ScerboM. W. (1998). What's so boring about vigilance? In HoffmanR.R.SherrickM.F.WarmJ.S. (Eds.), Viewing psychology as a whole: The integrative science of William N. Dember (pp. 145–166). Washington, DC: American Psychological Association.
22.
ScerboM. W.GreenwaldC. Q.SawinD. A. (1992). Vigilance: It's boring, it's difficult, and I can't do anything about it. Proceedings of the Human Factors Society 36th Annual Meeting (pp. 1508–1512). Santa Monica, CA: Human Factors and Ergonomics Society.
23.
SeeJ. E.HoweS. R.WarmJ. S.DemberW. N. (1995). Meta-analysis of the sensitivity decrement in vigilance. Psychological Bulletin, 117, 230–249.
24.
SeeJ. E.WarmJ. S.DemberW. N.HoweS. R. (1997). Vigilance and signal detection theory: An empirical evaluation of five measures of response bias. Human Factors, 39, 14–29.
25.
SzalmaJ. L.WarmJ. S.MatthewsG.DemberW. N.WeilerE. M.MeierA.EggemeierT. (1999). Sensory and temporal determinants of workload and stress in sustained attention. Proceedings of the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society, 43rd Annual Meeting, 1289–1293.
26.
TempleJ. G.WarmJ. S.DemberW. N.JonesK. S.LaGrangeC. M.MatthewsG. (2000). The effects of caffeine on performance and stress in an abbreviated vigilance task. Human Factors, 42, 183–194.
27.
WareJ.KowalB.BakerR. A. (1964). Role of experimenter attitude and contingent reinforcement in a vigilance task. Human Factors, 6, 111–115.
28.
WarmJ. S. (1993). Vigilance and target detection. In HueyB. M.WickensC. D. (Eds.), Workload transition: Implications for individual and team performance (pp. 139–170). Washington, DC: National Academy Press.
29.
WarmJ. S.DemberW. N. (1998). Tests of a vigilance taxonomy. In HoffmanR.R.SherrickM.F.WarmJ.S. (Eds.), Viewing psychology as a whole: The integrative science of William N. Dember (pp. 87–112). Washington, DC: American Psychological Association.
30.
WarmJ. S.DemberW. N.HancockP. A. (1996). Vigilance and workload in automated systems. In ParasuramanR.MoulouaM. (Eds.), Automation and human performance: Theory and implications (pp. 183–200). Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum.
