| Sumario: | The tasks used in 53 studies in the vigilance literature were classified in terms of the abilities required for task performance. For studies falling within each category of task, mean performance computed across studies was plotted as a function of time in the vigil. The curves relating time in the vigil to detection accuracy were found to differ as a function of the ability requirements of the tasks. Similarly, when the effects of selected independent variables (e.g., signal rate, sensory mode, and knowledge of results) on performance were examined, different functional relations were found depending on the abilities required by the tasks. Thus, classification of these experimental tasks by an abilities taxonomy improved generalizations about the effects of independent variables on vigilance performance; relations were revealed which had been obscured without these task classifications.
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