NTL Record

Title Blink Rate as a Measure of Fatigue: A Review
Record ID 39640
Personal Name
Creator
Stern, J.A.; Boyer, D.; Schroeder, D.J.
Corporate Creator Civil Aeromedical Institute; Washington University. Dept. of Psychology
Corporate
Contributor
United States. Office of Aviation Medicine
Publisher Civil Aerospace Medical Institute
Publication Date 19940800
Language English
Abstract Fatigue is one of many factors that can impact the ability of pilots and air traffic controllers (ATCs) to maintain their performance across time. This review of the literature is an outgrowth of a study concerning the relationship between several gaze measures and time on task (TOT) performance of subjects on an ATC monitoring task. Blink rate is one of several psychophysiological measures that has been proposed to assess fatigue associated with TOT. The acrimonious debate between Luckiesh and Tinker and Bitterman is evaluated and that portion of Luckiesh's results dealing with increases in blink rate as a function of TOT is well substantiated by the results of most other investigations. Some evidence is presented that variables, other than TOT, also affect blink rate, as well as data suggesting that the nature of the blink (blink closure duration) may be affected by TOT effects. The development of improved methodologies for detecting attentional lapses or the impaired ability of operators to perform on perceptually and cognitively demanding tasks will allow us to conduct improved evaluations of the effectiveness of various fatigue countermeasures.
Rosap ID dot:21415
Rosap URL https://rosap.ntl.bts.gov/view/dot/21415
TRT Terms Flight crews; Eye movements; Physiological fatigue; Vigilance; Performance; Literature reviews
General Subjects Flight crews; Eye--Movements; Fatigue; Vigilance (Psychology); Performance
Classification NTL - AVIATION - AVIATION
Geographical
Coverage
United States
Report Number DOT/FAA/AM-94/17
Resource type Tech Report
URL https://ntlrepository.blob.core.windows.net/lib/39000/39600/39640/AM94-17.pdf
Format PDF
Database NTL Digital Repository