Sentry Duty Performance is Robust Under High Cognitive Load

Abstract

Cognitive demands are increasing in military tasks. A good deal of research has been conducted regarding vigilance performance of the dismounted Soldier. However, changing task demands and increased technological equipment are altering Soldiers' duties. It has become imperative to study performance under higher workload conditions, especially to understand Soldier responses in a multi-task situation. In this study, military volunteers responded to targets on a marksmanship simulator while also performing a secondary auditory task. Cognitive load on both tasks was varied. Sentry duty performance was more robust when the number of targets was high as compared to low. Secondary task latency, but not task completion was affected by workload on the primary task. Overall, performance was best when volunteers had the highest task demands. Explanations for these performance patterns will be explored.