Knowledge of Results and Diagnostic Power: Implications for Vigilance Training to Support Improvised Explosive Device Detection

Improvised explosive devises (IEDs) represent the greatest threat to personnel deployed to combat zones. Improvements in the capacity to detect and neutralize these threats are therefore a crucial concern. Although technology can provide better protection against explosions and, perhaps, improve detection, IED detection will for the foreseeable future be dependent on the capacity of mounted and dismounted soldiers to sustain their attention over long periods of time. This capacity, vigilance, has been studied extensively in both laboratory and field settings over the past sixty years. In this paper the approach for training for vigilance, knowledge of results, is reviewed and the implications for designing IED detection training are identified.