Resource theories and dynamic models of stress and sustained performance make conflicting predictions concerning the nature of the interaction between fatigue effects and task demands. Resource theories suggest that fatigue may deplete attentional resources, so that detrimental effects of fatigue on performance are exacerbated when the task is highly demanding. Matthews et al. (1996) suggest that a variety of stress states may disrupt matching of effort to task demands. If so, the fatigued driver may fail to mobilise effort effectively when the task appears undemanding. These two conflicting hypotheses were tested with the Aston Driver Simulator, a microcomputer-controlled fixed-base simulator of moderate fidelity (see Matthews et al., 1996). In the present study, drivers performed both a fatiguing drive, in the first part of which a fatigue induction procedure was added to the primary task of driving and a control drive with no additional fatigue induction procedure. The effects of the fatigue manipulation on drivers' subjective states were assessed by a selection of subjective measures.
Samenvatting