Performance of 40- to 50-Year-Old Subjects on a Radar Monitoring Task: The Effects of Wearing Bifocal Glasses and Interpolated Rest Periods on Target Detection Time.

摘要

The present study examines the effects of wearing bifocal glasses and interpolated rest periods on the performance of 40- to 50-year-old subjects on a radar monitoring task. The visual display was designed to resemble an air traffic control radar display containing computer-generated alphanumeric symbols. Forty men and women were divided into four equal-sized groups, with each group consisting of one of the four possible combinations of bifocal/no-bifocal and rest/no-rest conditions. All subjects were tested over a 2-hour session. Rest periods (a 5-minute break every 30 minutes) significantly reduced the performance decrement of 40- to 50-year-old subjects, bringing performance to a level approximating that of 18- to 29-year-old subjects without rest periods. The wearing of bifocal glasses did not contribute to visual strain or somatic discomfort.