SAMAE – THE DYNAMIC ATTENTION EXERCISE

The Dynamic Attention Exercise provides a rapidly changing environment in which a number of objects must be tracked for changes in composition, speed and presence. Effectively it measures the efficient division and allocation of attention. Other skills include the use of peripheral vision to monitor the broad context, the ability to tune in to all channels of information, and a sensitivity to motion and differential speed. A person who is good at this can pick up things in an environment characterised by multiple targets or information sources which things are happening simultaneously and dynamically changing on an ongoing basis. Skills measured in this exercise are based on the recognition of quick changes and events rather than involving high levels of visual analysis. Candidates have to remain mentally composed and coordinated when making physical responses to visual cues, and the exercise requires sustained concentration in a fatigue inducing task.

Sample applications include:

  • Monitoring of multiple screens or monitor screens with multiple camera views.
  • Quick review of presence/absence of presence of people (eg., access points).
  • Tracking multiple people in a situation, or where there is a need for divided attention eg., casino tables, street scenes, work environments.
  • Monitoring objects for changes or presence such as on a casino table, cashier station, or factory floor.

WHAT THE DYNAMIC ATTENTION EXERCISE SCORES TELL YOU

DYNAMIC ACCURACYThe dynamic attention accuracy refers to the number of item changes detected within four seconds. Unlike the scanning exercise, if people do not detect an item change within four seconds it is not likely to be detected at all. The accuracy score is important in that it shows how aware the person is during the exercise and how consistently they can pick up the changes in items. It shows the ability to track multiple objects at once, use of peripheral vision, the sharing of attention between various priority issues, and the capability to handle a situation characterised by extensive movement. The person good at this can pick up things in an environment characterised by the need to monitor multiple things simultaneously and can pick up changes and movement/colour/perspective changes in particular. This tends to be as things happen with their associated movement/change rather than assessing a situation for things that have changed already (measured by the scanning exercise).
DYNAMIC RESPONSE TIME The dynamic response time is an indication of the sensitivity of the person to changes in a dynamic situation. Because items in the exercise change from normal to target and then back again, people who spot the initial change will have a significantly faster reaction time than those who tend to spot the change back to normal. Similarly they will be better than people who think they recognise the initial reaction but have to confirm their initial feelings by viewing the change back. Faster reaction times therefore show greater tracking skills and sensitivity to change in such situations. Where candidates have significantly different skills in using a mouse however, you need to be cautious in interpreting reaction time as it may be a result of awkwardness in responding with the mouse rather than a result of pick up time and reaction.
DYNAMIC FALSE ALARMS False alarms during the dynamic attention exercise reflect a response to a change that did not occur with that object. In a sense, this therefore indicates where somebody saw a change but is unsure of what. In such cases, the person clicks on the object they think changed but they are relatively unsure that it is indeed the target one. Where people have high false alarm levels, they are likely to be out of their depth and are reacting in an inappropriate manner. Alternatively, people may be too sensitive and are reacting to any kind of change without being clear about what they saw. This may happen with overlaps of items or changes in item direction which are normal but are been seen as part of the problem. Medium to high false alarm rates are indications of limited recognition ability and lower efficiency of the person.