Citation

Buckley RJ, Helton WS, Innes CR, Dalrymple-Alford JC, Jones RD. Conscious. Cogn. 2016; 45: 174-183.

Affiliation

New Zealand Brain Research Institute, Christchurch 8011, New Zealand; Psychology, University of Canterbury, Christchurch 8041, New Zealand; Electrical and Computer Engineering, University of Canterbury, Christchurch 8041, New Zealand; Medical Physics and Bioengineering, Christchurch Hospital, Christchurch 8011, New Zealand; Medicine, University of Otago (Christchurch), Christchurch 8011, New Zealand.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2016, Elsevier Publishing)

DOI

10.1016/j.concog.2016.09.002

PMID

27619820

Abstract

This study examined the incidence of attention lapses and microsleeps under contrasting levels of task complexity during three tasks: PVT, 2-D tracking and a dual task combining the two. More attention lapses per participant (median 15vs. 3; range 1-74vs. 0-76, p=0.001), with the greatest increase with time spent-on-task (p=0.002), were evident on the more cognitively-demanding dual task than on the PVT. Conversely, fewer microsleeps (median 0vs. 0; range 0-1vs. 0-18, p=0.022) occurred during the more complex task compared to the tracking task. An increase in microsleep rate with time spent-on-task (p=0.035) was evident during the tracking task but not the dual task. These results indicate that the higher cognitive load, associated with an increase in task complexity, increased the likelihood of attention lapses, while a reduction in task complexity increased the likelihood of microsleeps.

Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Language: en