Individual Differences in the Relationship Between Emotion and Performance in Command-and-Control Environments

The present investigation examines the relationship between emotional user states - composed of emotional valence and arousal - and performance in command-and-control environments. The aim is to gain insights into how the integration of the emotional user state into an adaptive instructional human-machine system can take place. Based on literature, a state of neutral valence is expected to be associated with high performance (H1) and high levels of arousal with low performance (H2). However, according to previous investigations, we also assume interindividual differences in the relationship of emotional user state and performance (H3). In two laboratory experiments, subjects performed a command-and-control task in the domain of anti-air warfare. A software for recognition of emotional face expressions (Emotient FACET) assessed emotional valence. Three physiological measures (heart rate, heart rate variability, pupil width) indicated arousal. Performance was operationalized by performance decrements that occurred whenever a subtask was not accomplished in time. For the analyses, data from two experiments (N = 24, 19-48 years, M = 32.0, SD = 7.2; N = 16, 22-49 years, M = 32.3, SD = 8.7) were used. Statistical analyses confirmed H1 and H2 for many subjects, but there were interindividual differences in the relationship of emotional user state and performance that supported H3. These results indicate that individual models are necessary for the analysis of emotional user state in Adaptive Instructional Systems. Future investigations could consider personality traits in the development of individual models. Furthermore, we suggest a multifactorial approach in the detection of emotional arousal.