Enhancement of Human Performance in Manual Target Acquisition and Tracking

Abstract : This report presents a review and analysis of research literature pertaining to human performance in manual target acquisition and tracking tasks. The emphasis of the review is the identification of factors which enhance performance, particularly those related to training and practice. Three major areas are reviewed: 1) typical patterns of performance in simple target acquisition and tracking tasks; 2) the effects of various training and practice regimens on the development of tracking proficiency; and 3) the impact of dual- tasks conditions on performance of tracking tasks. A framework for interpreting the various theoretical constructs and empirical findings covered in the literature is offered. This framework is based on the general notion of response organization, and embraces both the process of organization and the result of that process. A major issue which has not been addressed in the research literature is how the impact of dual-task conditions on response organization may be lessened (or recovery hastened) by appropriate training. An experiments was conducted to address this issue. The whole-task condition of interest was one in which a primary tracking task was first performed along, followed by concurrent performance of the primary task and a simple target acquisition task. Three groups of subjects were given different training programs for the whole task. One group was given whole-task training; that is, they practiced the task in training exactly as it was performed in transfer conditions.