Skill development in vigilance: effects of event rate and age.

Thirty-six young (19-27 years), middle-aged (40-55 years), and old (70-80 years) adults performed a 30-min vigilance task at low (15 per min) and high (40 per min) event rates for 20 sessions. Skill-acquisition curves modeled on power, hyperbolic, and exponential functions were predicted. With extensive practice, hit rates increased and false-alarm rates decreased to virtually asymptotic levels. Skill development was best described by the hyperbolic function. Practice reduced but did not eliminate the vigilance decrement in all subjects. The event-rate effect--the decrease in hit rate at high event rates--was reduced with practice and eliminated in young subjects. Hit rates decreased and false-alarm rates increased with age, but there was little attenuation of age differences with practice. Implications for theories of vigilance, skill development, and cognitive aging are discussed.