Influence of cognitive ability on task performance of dynamic decision making in military vehicles under different task complexity

摘要

With the increment of demands on task performance in military vehicles, reasons for task performance difference in dynamic decision making have received considerable attention. The aim of this study was to explore the reasons for performance difference of dynamic decision making in military vehicles. The different influences of cognitive ability on task performance were investigated between low and high task complexity. Task performance was assessed with task completion time and error rate. Task complexity was manipulated by altering three forms of load factor, consisting of number of alternatives, information load and interruption duration. Four types of cognitive abilities were measured, including reaction ability, memory ability, sustained attention ability and attention allocation ability. The results indicated that cognitive abilities were effective predictors of task performance. High task complexity was more detrimental to individuals with low cognitive ability in terms of operation speed, and to individuals with high cognitive ability in terms of operation accuracy. High memory ability became increasingly demanded in high complexity. The key points of enhancing task performance lay in crew selection based on cognitive ability test and pertinence training on balancing operation speed and accuracy. This study provides insights into performance difference of military vehicle crew in dynamic decision making, which has remarkable significance in current crew selection, training and task assignment.