Application of Vigilance Research: Rare, Medium, or Well Done?

Despite a history of over 40 years and a vast amount of experimentation, vigilance research has not had a palpable impact on real-world systems. The problem has been blamed in part on the types of studies and the range of variables that have been chosen, but this is only part of the picture. The failure of implementation can also be attributed to insufficient interest in bridging the gap between the laboratory and the work world and lack of data from not the former but the latter. The situation will probably remain unremedied until more effort is made to understand the nature of complex systems and their dependence on human monitors and until the myth that automation of functions eliminates or even diminishes the need for human vigilance is abandoned.

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