Why stop after 20 minutes? Breaks and target prevalence in a 60-minute X-ray baggage screening task
Type
01 - Zeitschriftenartikel, Journalartikel oder Magazin
Primary target group
Science
Created while belonging to FHNW?
Yes
Zusammenfassung
Current EU regulation restricts continuously reviewing X-ray images of passenger baggage to 20-min duration as
a precautionary measure to prevent performance decrements in airport security officers (screeners). However,
this 20-min limit is not based on clear empirical evidence on how well screeners can sustain their performance
over time. Our study tested screeners in a 60-min simulated X-ray cabin baggage screening task. One group took
10-min breaks after 20 min of screening; the other group worked without breaks. We found no decrease in
performance over 60 min in either group. Breaks did not affect performance, but they did reduce the amount of
subjective distress. By varying target prevalence, we found that da with a slope of about 0.6 is a more valid
measure of detection performance than d’. Target prevalence caused a criterion shift. Our results provide a basis
for conducting field studies of prolonged screening durations, and open the discussion on whether more flexible
break policies and work schedules should be considered.