Vigilance Vigilance is the property of sustaining one's attention while scanning the environment for the occurrence of events of significance. For example, scientists may study the behaviors of prey species attempting to maintain alertness for possible predators. During World War II, vigilance behavior was studied among radar operators charged with reporting the presence of "blips" that might represent approaching enemy aircraft. Several variables were identified that influenced vigilance, such as length of time spent  | | Dolphin views a "critical" image. | continuously observing, and the probability of blips appearing on the screen. We have explored the dolphin's ability to sustain its attention while watching for the occurrence of key events on a television screen placed behind an underwater window. The dolphin watches a series of "clip-art" images appearing rapidly on the television screen and reports the occurrence of a 'critical' image or images by pressing a paddle immediately adjacent to the window. The dolphin must withhold any response noncritical images. As many as 60 images may flash by successively on the screen, each of 1 second duration and separated from other images by 0.5 second intervals. The dolphin's response time to a critical image, is typically less than one second. The dolphin correctly reports the occurrence of a critical image between 95-100% of the time, and rarely makes a false alarm by pressing the paddle for  | | Researcher monitors the dolphin's performance from a remote location. | a noncritical image. We have also completed a parallel study, using many different sounds rather then visual images. In this case, the dolphin must report the occurrence of critical sounds. The dolphin's performance was equally good, whether reporting on critical visual images or critical sounds. Only humans have been tested in these types vigilance procedures previously. The results for the dolphin were similar to those for humans, in terms of performance levels and susceptibility to various variables. Clearly, the dolphin is able to sustain its attention for protracted periods and can make rapid discriminations among different images and sounds. The findings of excellent performance with visual images gives further support to the development and utility of the dolphin's visual processing system. Hoffman-Kuhnt, M. (in preparation). Visual and auditory vigilance in the bottlenosed dolphin. Ph.D. thesis. University of Berlin and University of Hawaii. Back to Top Dolphin Programs | Whale Programs | Education Programs | Our Research | Resource Guide Copyright © 2002, The Dolphin Institute |
