Mackworth Clock Test
The Mackworth Clock Test (also Mackworth clock test) is a psychological test that is used to check and train the attention and alertness (also vigilance ) of people. It was developed in 1948 by Norman Mackworth for the pilots of the British Royal Air Force . The observation of enemy ships and submarines during World War II should be optimized as the pilots' vigilance deteriorated over time.
The test
The test person observes an apparatus, similar to a clock, on which 24 white dots are arranged in a circle. A black point wanders along the Mackworth clock and temporarily leaves out one of the white points. The task is to react whenever one of the points is skipped. To signal a reaction, the participants have to press a button. The test, as Mackworth had planned, lasted 2 hours at the time.
The difficulty of the test
The challenge of the clock test does not lie in the initial detection of the double jumps, but in the long-term exposure to sustained attention and vigilance . NH Mackworth itself came to the conclusion that the performance of the pilots deteriorated after just 30 minutes (by 10 to 15 percent) and continued to decline. The test subjects' ability to detect the double steps decreased, as did the reaction time. Even the prospect of a reward offered as an incentive could not increase performance again. One of the reasons for this is the lack of information density of such monotonous tasks, with which people generally become more negligent.
Versions of the clock test
The Mackworth Clock Test is still used in vigilance research today. It is available in numerous variations, including a computer-aided test, with a shortened duration and with different numbers of 'clock points'. The clock test can be carried out online.
Individual evidence
- ^ Mackworth, NH (1948). The breakdown of vigilance during prolonged visual search. Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology, vol. 1, pp. 6-21, doi : 10.1080 / 17470214808416738
- ↑ Kirchbaum, C. (2008). Biopsychology from A to Z. Springer Verlag, 1st edition, p. 61
- ↑ http://www.psychologie.uni-heidelberg.de/ae/allg/lehre/wct/w/w9_aufektiven/w941_vigilanz.htm animation