RAA Liaison Letter 2024 - 2025 Edition

RAA Liaison Letter – 2024 / 2025 Edition 96 Figure 1. Study participant performance over time over a two-hour watch (dotted line) compared with alternating watches (previous page) and a telephone message (above) 4 It is not necessarily suggested that commander radio their operators during duty to provide a motivational speech but many of the other lessons from this study should be implemented. Operators should be rotated frequently and tasked only with monitoring the display, not asked to man a radio at the same time. Duty periods should be kept short and operators rotated to provide frequent breaks. Since this study was conducted a number of tools have been created to reduce the burden on individual operators. These include alarms to trigger their attention and processing algorithms such as CFAR (constant false alarm rate) to reduce false targets. These tools can help reduce the mental burden of operators if used correctly. However it has been shown that automated driving systems significantly worsen the vigilance decrement of drivers compared to non- automated vehicles 5 . It is unknown if a similar effect will occur in automated combat systems. These should be introduced with caution and their effect on operator performance critically evaluated. 1 D.G. Burnett, 2023 2 Korducki, 2022 3 Mackworth, 1948 4 Mackworth, 1948 Scientists have also continued to study methods to reduce the vigilance decrement and applied their research to a range of related tasks. These include driving, CCTV monitoring, health care and air traffic control. Recent studies have suggested caffeine, chewing gum, listening to music or white noise, playing video games 6 and even electrical stimulation of the brain as ways to improve focus 7 . In summary maintaining vigilance when monitoring airspace is essential for air defence command post operators. Science has been concerned with how to improve human performance to reduce the vigilance decrement for decades and there is a wealth of research into this topic. Commanders should be creative in implementing innovative methods to improve vigilance and improve the ability of their members to quickly respond to threats. References: B. S. Löffler, H. I. (2023). Attempting to counteract vigilance decrement in older adults with brain stimulation. Frontiers in Neuroergonomics. D.G. Burnett, J. E. (2023). Scenes of Attention. Essays on Mind, Time and the Senses. Columbia University Press. E.T. Greenlee, P. D. (2024). Driver Vigilance Decrement is More Severe During Automated Driving than Manual Driving. Human Factors and Ergonomics Society. Ezra Klein, D. G. (2024). Your Mind is Being Fracked [Recorded by Ezra Klein Show, New York Times Opinion]. F. Al-Shargie, U. T.-N. (2019). Vigilance Decrement and Enhancement Techniques: A Review. Brain Sciences. Korducki, K. M. (2022, June 2). TikTok trends or the pandemic? What’s behind the rise in ADHD diagnoses. Retrieved from The Guardian: https://www.theguardian.com/society/2022/jun/02/tik tok-trends-or-the-pandemic-whats-behind-the-rise-in- adhd-diagnoses Mackworth, N. (1948). The breakdown of vigilance during prolonged visual search. Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology, 6-21 . 5 E.T. Greenlee, 2024 6 F. Al-Shargie, 2019 7 B. S. Löffler, 2023