Cognitive load mitigates the executive but not the arousal vigilance decrement

This study was supported by the Spanish Ministry of Economy, Industry, and Competitiveness, through research projects to JL [grants number PSI2017-84926-P and PID2020-114790GB-I00] and the Secretaría de Ciencia y Tecnología from the Universidad Nacional de Córdoba, Argentina (Proyecto Estimular to FGL). In addition, FGL received PhD scholarship support from the Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas (CONICET), Argentina and a scholarship mobility by the Asociación Universitaria Iberoamericana de Posgrado (AUIP) in cooperation with the Consejería de Economía y Conocimiento de la Junta de Andalucía, España. Funding sources had no involvement in the study design; in the collection, analysis and interpretation of data; in the writing of the report; and in the decision to submit the article for publication. Preliminary results of this work has been presented in the Spanish XI Scientific Meeting of Attention (RECA), developed from 28th to 30th of September 2017 in Baeza, Spain. This study is part of the doctoral thesis by FGL, conducted under the supervision of JL and EMA.
Previous research has shown opposite effects of dual tasking on the vigilance decrement phenomenon. We examined the executive (i.e., detecting infrequent critical signals) and arousal (i.e., sustaining a fast reaction to stimuli without much control on responses) vigilance decrements as a function of task load. Ninety-six participants performed either a single signal-detection (i.e., executive vigilance) task, a single reaction time (i.e., arousal vigilance) task, or a dual vigilance task with the same stimuli and procedure. All participants self-reported their fatigue’ state along the session. Exploratory analyses included data from a previous study with a triple task condition. Task load significantly modulated the executive but not the arousal vigilance decrement. Interestingly, the largest increase in mental fatigue was observed in the single executive vigilance task condition. We discuss limitations of classic vigilance theories to account for the vigilance decrement and changes in mental fatigue as a function of task load.
Spanish Ministry of Economy, Industry, and Competitiveness, grants number PSI2017-84926-P and PID2020-114790GB-I00
Secretaría de Ciencia y Tecnología from the Universidad Nacional de Córdoba, Argentina
Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas (CONICET)
Asociación Universitaria Iberoamericana de Posgrado (AUIP) in cooperation with the Consejería de Economía y Conocimiento de la Junta de Andalucía, España