A detailed analysis of electrodermal predictors, used in vigilance studies, suggests that slow habituators display a high over-all level of performance, regardless of task demands and modality. A difference in cautiousness of responding is not involved in this superiority. The evidence that fast habituators exhibit greater performance decrements with time is somewhat less strong. Electrodermal lability, in the sense of spontaneous activity, appeared to be useless as a predictor of over-all vigilant efficiency. The relationship between rate of habituation and performance can be explained in terms of differential allocation of information-processing capacity, although explanations in terms of arousal have also been offered. Speed of habituation has also been linked to intelligence. If in further research it can be shown that the predictive capacity of speed of habituation also applies to more complex, real-world tasks, a practical consequence may be to employ slow habituators in monitoring tasks.
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