Watching the clock: Boredom and vigilance performance

The current study investigated the relationship between a measure of trait boredom, Boredom Proneness, and vigilance performance on a variation of Mac kworth's original clock test. Performance, assessed as Sensory Efficiency, was negatively correlated with Boredom Proneness scores early in the vigil but not during later trials. The results suggested that the trait of Boredo m Proneness is predictive of performance on monotonous tasks within the fir st 10-min. block of trials; however, no differences in performance occurred on subsequent blocks, suggesting that as state boredom increases, differen ces between individuals diminish, e.g., a ceding effect. The authors discus s the importance of examining Boredom Proneness as a multidimensional const ruct. Practical implications for these results are presented, particularly in terms of using Sensory Efficiency as a measure of performance during vig ilance tasks.