ELECTRONIC MONITORING SYSTEMS - AN EXAMINATION OF PHYSIOLOGICAL-ACTIVITY AND TASK-PERFORMANCE WITHIN A SIMULATED KEYSTROKE SECURITY AND ELECTRONIC PERFORMANCE MONITORING-SYSTEM

Electronic monitoring systems are becoming a prominent feature of the modern office. The aims of the present study were three-fold. First, t o assess the effects electronic security monitoring systems (ESM) have on the user's physiological state. Second, the researches aimed to ex amine the effects explicit security challenges have on both user behav iour and physiological state when using an ESM system. Finally, the re search aimed to examine the effects one form of electronic performance monitoring system may have on the user's physiological state. To this effect, the present study examined the physiological and performance effects of two simulated electronic monitoring systems (security/perfo rmance). The computer task required 32 subjects to enter mock clinical case notes under various conditions. In the first session subjects we re only required to enter the case notes while keystroke data were col lected. The second session was divided into three discrete stages. In the ''security baseline'' condition, subjects were informed that a key stroke security monitoring system had been instituted, bu: no security challenges occurred. In the ''security challenge'' condition, however , a number of explicit security challenges occurred. In the final ''pe rformance monitoring'' condition, subjects were informed that their da ta entry speed was monitored and they were placed on a response-cost s chedule for poor performance. Blood pressure and continuous inter-hear tbeat latency were recorded for the security and performance condition s. Results indicated that monitoring systems have the potential to evo ke altered arousal states in the form of increased heart rate and bloo d pressure. Contrary to expectations, the hypothesized improvement in task performance within the performance monitoring condition was not o bserved. The implications of these results for the design and implemen tation of electronically based behavioural-based security and performa nce monitoring systems are discussed. (C) 1998 Academic Press Limited.