Differential and experimental studies of procedural performance
Abstract
The proposed research will address two main questions about the ability to perform procedures accurately, which plays a central role in many tasks of interest to the Navy. The first concerns procedural performance from memory and the second concerns procedural performance under conditions of sleep deprivation. The ability to perform procedures accurately plays a central role in many tasks of interest to the Navy. The proposed research will address two main questions about this ability. The first question concerns accurate procedural performance from memory. In the funding cycle just ending, we found that people who committed a procedure to memory rather than relying on an external aid made fewer—not more—procedural errors. This correlation was driven by a small, but identifiable, group of participants who never used the external aid and had error rates close to zero. In Track 1 of the proposed research, we will replicate this finding and ask what factors determine membership in this group. Study 1 will determine whether membership reflects stable cognitive abilities (i.e., dispositional factors) or more transient factors such as adequate sleep the night before. Study 2 will test a simple intervention to increase membership in this group of highaccuracy, memory-based performers. If the intervention is successful, this would indicate a role for training; if not, it would indicate a role for personnel selection. The second question concerns effects of sleep deprivation on procedural performance. The task we are using to study procedural performance, which was developed with ONR funding, affords a wide range of accuracy and response time measures that tap a wide range of underlying cognitive processes. Pilot data suggest that sleep deprivation affects different accuracy measures differently, with a negative effect on procedural errors immediately after task interruptions, but a positive effect on typing accuracy that may implicate a motivational or strategic shift. In Track 2 of the proposed research, we will test effects of sleep deprivation on procedural performance with large samples. Study 1 will extend our pilot study to establish which of a broad set of cognitive processes are impaired and to what degree, and which are spared or enhanced. Study 2 will replicate Study 1 using a within-subjects design to examine individual differences in the ability to resist negative effects of sleep deprivation, and whether these differences interact with type of cognitive processing.
Document Details
- Document Type
- DoD Grant Award
- Publication Date
- Nov 23, 2016
- Source ID
- N000141612841
Entities
People
- Erik Altmann
Organizations
- Michigan State University
- Office of Naval Research
- United States Navy