Stress, Workload, and Fatigue

Hancock, Peter A.; Desmond, Paula A.

doi:10.1201/b12791

Cited by 106 publications

(60 citation statements)

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“…van Zomeren & Brouwer, 1994) or human-factors research (cf. Hancock & Desmond, 2001). This research revealed problems with translating models of cognition devoid of energetic considerations into real-world settings.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 95%

Energetic effects of stimulus intensity on prolonged simple reaction-time performance

Langner

Willmes

Chatterjee

et al. 2010

Psychological Research

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The efficiency of cognition is modulated by energetic factors like effort, fatigue or circadian variation, which affect even the most basic cognitive operations. For instance, speeded detection in simple reaction-time (SRT) tasks usually slows down over time. The literature suggests that either mindlessness due to routinization or mental fatigue due to attentional resource depletion might underlie this decrement. We tested these assumptions in three 25-min visual SRT tasks using easy-to-detect high-intensity and hard-to-detect low-intensity stimuli presented in both blocked and mixed fashion. Mindlessness theory predicts that less monotonous stimulation (i.e. the mixed presentation) would mitigate the time-related decrement for high- and low-intensity stimuli alike, whereas resource-depletion theory predicts opposite effects of mixed presentation on high- versus low-intensity stimuli. Indeed, stimulus intensity and presentation mode cross-interacted significantly, indicating that the performance decline was steeper for high-intensity stimuli but less steep for low-intensity stimuli during mixed compared to blocked presentation, respectively. These results strongly suggest that the time-related efficiency decrement during prolonged SRT performance is related to accumulating mental fatigue. A conjecture is put forward that explains both resource depletion and mindlessness from the perspective of self-regulation. Our study underscores the need to incorporate energetic factors into models of cognition to facilitate their translation into real-world applications.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 95%

Energetic effects of stimulus intensity on prolonged simple reaction-time performance

Langner

Willmes

Chatterjee

et al. 2010

Psychological Research

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

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“…Second, when people are fatigued after performing a task, they often perform better (rather than worse) on a second task as a result of the extra stimulation of doing something different (Broadbent, 1979), whereas depletion effects almost invariably show decrements on the second, unrelated task. Likewise, fatigue seems to impair performance on simple but not complex tasks (Hancock & Desmond, 2000) (perhaps because simple tasks offer little stimulation), which is the opposite effect of depletion effects. Third, fatigue seems to be domain specific such that performing one task impairs performance on the same task but not on other, unrelated tasks (Van den Berg, 1985).…”

Section: Validating the Construct Of Ego Depletionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Self‐Regulation and Personality: How Interventions Increase Regulatory Success, and How Depletion Moderates the Effects of Traits on Behavior

Baumeister

Gailliot

DeWall

et al. 2006

Journal of Personality

726

552

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Self-regulation is a highly adaptive, distinctively human trait that enables people to override and alter their responses, including changing themselves so as to live up to social and other standards. Recent evidence indicates that self-regulation often consumes a limited resource, akin to energy or strength, thereby creating a temporary state of ego depletion. This article summarizes recent evidence indicating that regular exercises in self-regulation can produce broad improvements in self-regulation (like strengthening a muscle), making people less vulnerable to ego depletion. Furthermore, it shows that ego depletion moderates the effects of many traits on behavior, particularly such that wide differences in socially disapproved motivations produce greater differences in behavior when ego depletion weakens the customary inner restraints.Self-regulation is an important personality process by which people seek to exert control over their thoughts, their feelings, their impulses and appetites, and their task performances. The human capacity for self-regulation appears to be much more extensive than what is found in other animals, which may suggest that the evolutionary pressures that guided the selection of traits that make up human nature, such as participation in cultural groups, found self-regulation to be especially adaptive and powerful (Baumeister, 2005). If so, then self-regulation may be one of the most distinctively human traits. Even if human beings are capable of more self-regulation than other animals, however, their capacity is far less than what many Correspondence concerning this article may be sent to R. Baumeister,

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“…In the mental workload literature, psychophysiological measurement is frequently used to index the level of cognitive demand associated with a task (Boucsein and Backs, 2000;Hancock and Desmond, 2001). The sensitivity of psychophysiology to cognitive demand (e.g., increased temporal demands, multiple task performance etc.)…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%