Office of Aerospace Medicine Technical Reports
FAA Office of Aerospace Medicine
Civil Aerospace Medical Institute
Report No: DOT/FAA/AM-86/4
Title and Subtitle: Complex monitoring performance and the coronary-prone Type A behavior pattern.
Report Date: March 1986
Authors: Thackray RI, Touchstone RM.
Abstract: The present study examined the possible relationship of the coronary-prone Type A behavior pattern to performance of a complex monitoring task. The task was designed to functionally simulate the general task characteristics of future, highly automated air traffic control systems in which passive monitoring is expected to be a principal job requirement.
Thirty-six male subjects, half classified as Type A and half as Type B, monitored the simulated radar display over a 2-hour session for infrequent critical changes in alphanumeric targets. In addition to performance, physiological changes and subjective reactions were also assessed. Type A individuals were found not to differ from Type B individuals in either task performance or in subjective reaction to the task. Task-related changes in heart rate, blood pressure, and general restlessness failed also to provide any evidence of greater arousal in Type A's than in Type B's.
The findings are discussed relative to other studies of Type A behavior and performance and to the specific problem of finding useful predictors of performance in operational monitoring situations. Keywords: Attention; Automation; Monitoring; and Vigilance.
Key Words: monitoring, performance(human), vigilance, attention, requirements, simulation, jobs, predictions, stress (psychology), stress (physiology), passive systems, targets, air traffic control systems, display systems, response, patterns, radar equipment, behavior, heart rate, blood pressure, alphanumeric data.
No. of Pages: 17
Civil Aerospace Medical Institute
Report No: DOT/FAA/AM-86/4
Title and Subtitle: Complex monitoring performance and the coronary-prone Type A behavior pattern.
Report Date: March 1986
Authors: Thackray RI, Touchstone RM.
Abstract: The present study examined the possible relationship of the coronary-prone Type A behavior pattern to performance of a complex monitoring task. The task was designed to functionally simulate the general task characteristics of future, highly automated air traffic control systems in which passive monitoring is expected to be a principal job requirement.
Thirty-six male subjects, half classified as Type A and half as Type B, monitored the simulated radar display over a 2-hour session for infrequent critical changes in alphanumeric targets. In addition to performance, physiological changes and subjective reactions were also assessed. Type A individuals were found not to differ from Type B individuals in either task performance or in subjective reaction to the task. Task-related changes in heart rate, blood pressure, and general restlessness failed also to provide any evidence of greater arousal in Type A's than in Type B's.
The findings are discussed relative to other studies of Type A behavior and performance and to the specific problem of finding useful predictors of performance in operational monitoring situations. Keywords: Attention; Automation; Monitoring; and Vigilance.
Key Words: monitoring, performance(human), vigilance, attention, requirements, simulation, jobs, predictions, stress (psychology), stress (physiology), passive systems, targets, air traffic control systems, display systems, response, patterns, radar equipment, behavior, heart rate, blood pressure, alphanumeric data.
No. of Pages: 17
Last updated: Friday, June 1, 2012