Improving Performance of Combat Soldiers by Utilizing Attentional Training Based on Eye Tracking

Tel Aviv University

Status: Terminated

Conditions: Military Combat Performance

Treatments: Behavioral: Gaze-Contingent Feedback Training; Behavioral: Non-Contingent Feedback Training; Behavioral: Attention Bias Modification

Study type: Interventional

Funder types: Other

Identifiers

NCT05306197

TAU-GCFTperformance

Details and patient eligibility

About

Military service in combat units entails exposure to traumatic events that require mental adjustment. To develop and efficiently apply attentional interventions aimed at enhancing soldiers' combat performance, it is essential to extensively investigate the efficiency of these training programs, which has yet to been done. The prupose of the current study is to examine the efficiency of the new attention eye-tracking based training, in comparison to RT-based training and to a control group, in improving performance of combat soldiers. In addition, the influence of the attention training on aspects of psychological resilience will also be examined in questionnaires.

Full description

Following the explanation to participants regarding the study process, those who give written consent to participate will be randomly placed into one of three groups: GCFT (N=60), ABMT (N=60), and a neutral control group - task based on eye-tracking (N=60). The study will include 2 measurement points during the military service: before the attention training and after the attention training. In each measurement point, the soldiers will complete computerized tasks to measure threat attention, questionnaires, and performance data from shooting ranges and combat fitness.

Enrollment: 79 patients

Sex: Male

Ages: 18+ years old

Volunteers: Accepts Healthy Volunteers

Inclusion criteria

• Each soldier from the cohort that will give his written consent will be able to participate in the study.

Exclusion criteria

• Hebrew proficiency is insufficient to complete the study questionnaires.

Trial design

Primary purpose: Other

Allocation: Randomized

Interventional model: Parallel Assignment

Masking: Single Blind

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79 participants in 3 patient groups, including a placebo group

Gaze-Contingent Feedback Training (toward threat)

Experimental group

Description:

In the task, 30 different matrices, each consisting of 16 faces, will be presented. Each matrix includes 8 angry faces and 8 neutral, 8 women and 8 men, and the locations are counterbalanced between matrices. The participants are asked to view the matrices in any way they choose, and the eye-tracking camera records their viewing location relative to the stimuli presented on the screen. At the beginning of each training session, the soldier will choose to which music he would like to listen during the 12-minute session from a diverse list of music. After calibrating the eye-tracker, the participant will be instructed to view matrices of faces as he chooses, as described above in the assessment task. The music chosen by the participant will play only when he is looking at threatening faces and it will stop when he looks at neutral faces. Thus, a change in viewing patterns is expected by implementing operant conditioning principles.

Treatment:

Behavioral: Gaze-Contingent Feedback Training

Active Comparator: RT-Based Attention Bias Modification (toward threat)

Active Comparator group

Description:

A dot-probe task of 160 trials. Trials begins with a fixation cross (+), on which the participant is asked to focus (500ms). Then two face stimuli (one angry one neutral) are presented above and below the fixation cross (500ms). After the stimuli disappear, a target probe (right- or left-pointing arrowhead) appears in place of one of the face stimuli. The participant is asked to indicate which target probe was presented using a predetermined key. The target probe will remain on the screen until response, after which a new trial will begin. Participants are instructed to identify the probe type as quickly and accurately as possible. In the training task, all of the target probes will appear in the threat location (angry face). Thus, over multiple trials, learning is expected to occurs such that the threatening face predicts the location of the target probe, thereby achieving the desired change in attention pattern.

Treatment:

Behavioral: Attention Bias Modification

Non-Contingent Feedback Training

Placebo Comparator group

Description:

This condition is also based on the eye-tracking task (see Experimental Arm) with a fundamental change - The music chosen by the soldier will play continuously without any reinforcement for looking at threat or neutral faces.

Treatment:

Behavioral: Non-Contingent Feedback Training