Detecting Critical Patterns in Maternal-Fetal Heart Rate Tracings over Time

The present study examined how individuals detect critical patterns in MFHR tracings in single and multiple monitor displays. Two studies were performed, varying the number of critical signals presented within displays. In the first study, the number of critical signals increased with increases in the number of displays. In the second study, the number of signals remained constant across display conditions. The results from Study 1 showed no decrement for either display condition; however, fewer critical signals were detected in the multiple display condition. In Study 2, there was no vigilance decrement nor was there a difference in number of signals detected for display condition. However, significantly more false alarms were committed for the multiple display condition. Although no definitive conclusion can be reached regarding vigilance performance and multiple displays, there is cause for concern from a clinical perspective about the degraded ability to detect signals from multiple displays. These fi...