The Impact of Induced Stress Upon Selective Attention in Multiple Object Tracking

The ability to filter distracting information and selectively attend to relevant information is critical to effective performance on the battlefield. In addition to the cognitive processing burden imposed upon modern warfighters, the effects of stress upon cognition and action must also be accounted for in evaluating individual warfighting capabilities. The current study examines the relationship between stress and cognition by measuring performance on a multiple object tracking (MOT) task after exposure to stress-inducing photographs. Postexposure performance revealed significant decrements in MOT accuracy relative to a nonstressed control group. Implications are discussed regarding the impact of stress on attentional selection for operational scenarios where it is difficult to distinguish friendly individuals from those with hostile intentions, as well as for the development of technology for command, control, communications (computers), and intelligence (C4I) systems.