Optimizing for Attention Allocation in Discrete Monitoring Tasks

This study examined the efficacy of six alarm modalities (visual, auditory, visualauditory, visual-tactile, auditory-tactile, and visual-auditory-tactile) under four workload conditions in discrete monitoring tasks. A high-simultaneous task scenario was used to assess operators’ attention control modes, focusing on shifts between exogenous and endogenous control. Twenty-two participants performed a simulated emergency task, with performance metrics such as hit rates, errors, choice response times, workload, and user experience collected. Results showed that the visualauditory-tactile alarm provided superior performance, demonstrating its robustness in achieving superior effectiveness across different workload scenarios. Additionally, auditory alarm was more effective than visual alarm in modulating attention control modes. These findings underscore the potential of multimodal alarms to enhance operator performance and demonstrate that auditory alarm effectively modulate ACMs, thereby ensuring system safety in discrete monitoring tasks.