The Performance of Multi-Man Monitoring Teams

Abstract

This study examined the performance of multi-man teams in a visual monitoring task. There were four groups: one, two, and three-man teams, and another three-man team in which the members monitored in isolation but had their responses combined as if they were switches in a parallel circuit. The length of the vigil was 48 min, in which 32 signals appeared. Results showed that: (a) As team size increased from one to two men, there was a significant increase in probability of detection, but the increase from two to three men was not statistically significant; (b) The combined performance of the three monitors in isolation was superior to the three monitors working together; and (c) The performance of the two and three-man groups fell short of the level predicted by a probability model for independent events.