Citation

Casner SM, Schooler JW. Conscious. Cogn. 2015; 35: 33-41.

Affiliation

Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, University of California, Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara, CA 93106, USA. Electronic address: jonathan.schooler@psych.ucsb.edu.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2015, Elsevier Publishing)

DOI

10.1016/j.concog.2015.04.019

PMID

25966369

Abstract

In laboratory studies of vigilance, participants watch for unusual events in a "sit and stare" fashion as their performance typically declines over time. But watch keepers in practical settings seldom approach monitoring in such simplistic ways and controlled environments. We observed airline pilots performing routine monitoring duties in the cockpit. Unlike laboratory studies, pilots' monitoring did not deteriorate amidst prolonged vigils. Monitoring was frequently interrupted by other pop-up tasks and misses followed. However, when free from these distractions, pilots reported copious mind wandering. Pilots often confined their mind wandering to times in which their monitoring performance would not conspicuously suffer. But when no convenient times were available, pilots mind wandered anyway and misses ensued. Real-world monitors may be caught between a continuous vigilance approach that is doomed to fail, a dynamic environment that cannot be fully controlled, and what may be an irresistible urge to let one's thoughts drift.


Keywords: Driver distraction;

Language: en