Sustained Attention in Type A and Type B Subjects: A Blink Reflex Analysis

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Abstract
The allocation of attention by Type A/B subjects to task‐irrelevant distractors was investigated with a probe‐startle paradigm. Type A and B undergraduate students selected on the basis of their scores on the Jenkins Activity Survey worked on a series of vigilance tasks characterized by two levels of difficulty. During each task, irrelevant 50‐ms bursts of 102dB white noise were presented at approximately 35‐s intervals. Startle (eyeblink) reflex magnitude was measured during task and no‐task periods to quantify attentional allocation to the task‐irrelevant acoustic probes. As predicted, reflex attenuation was demonstrated in all subjects while attention was focused on the visual display. More importantly, Type A subjects demonstrated greater blink attenuation than Type Bs as a function of time‐on‐task. No group differences in heart rate or skin conductance response frequency were found, suggesting that A/B reflex differences were specific to attentional state and not secondary to changes in arousal.