Effects of Environmental Variation on Arousal during Vigilance Performance

• Published in: Perceptual and motor skills Vol. 36; no. 3_suppl; pp. 1251 - 1257
• Main Authors: Olmedo, Esteban L., Kirk, Roger E., Suarez, E. Martin
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Los Angeles, CA SAGE Publications 01-06-1973; Perceptual and Motor Skills, etc
• Subjects: Arousal; Attention; Environment; Humans; Information Theory; Light; Male; Noise; Probability; Self Concept; Visual Perception
• ISSN: 0031-5125; 1558-688X
• DOI: 10.2466/pms.1973.36.3c.1251

The present experiment investigated the effects of environmental variation on the arousal level of Ss performing a simple visual vigilance task. Two independent variables, constant vs variable-intensity lighting and constant vs variable-intensity white noise, provided four experimental conditions. Forty Ss monitored a simulated CRT display during two 90-min. sessions. Arousal was measured at the beginning and at the end of each session by means of a self-report check list. The results indicated that: (1) with variable noise, there was a greater decrease in General Activation and a greater increase in Deactivation-Sleep under variable- than under constant-intensity lighting; (2) with variable lighting, there was a greater increase in Deactivation-Sleep under variable than under constant intensity of noise; and (3) correlations among arousal and probability of detection in the vigilance task were in general low and insignificant. No support was found for the prediction from arousal theory that environmental variation enhances vigilance performance by maintaining a general state of arousal.