The Eye Blink and Workload Considerations

Two parameters of the eye blink, blink rate and blink duration, were used to assess workload in two independent operational studies. Both studies involved high fidelity strategic bomber mission simulations. The first study was an extended wartime mission where workload was evaluated during mission segments. The second study involved shorter, discrete training missions where task difficulty was systematically manipulated. Both studies produced complementary results. Results show that: (1) blink rate is significantly affected by task demands; (2) blink rate is sensitive to task modality; (3) blink duration is significantly affected by task modality and complexity; and (4) blink duration is a sensitive index of time on task effects. These data support the use of eye blink measurement in “noisy” complex environments as both a feasible and valuable assessment technique.