Adaptation of the psychomotor vigilance task to auditory modality: effect of noise type, task constructs, test-retest reliability, and fatigue recovery

The purpose of this study was to adapt and validate an auditory Psychomotor Vigilance Task (aPVT) for examining listening-related fatigue. Three experiments included 51 participants with normal hearing. Experiment I compared steady-state noise versus multi-talker babble effects on listening fatigue. Experiment II examined the construct validity of aPVT and visual PVT using behavioral measures. Experiment III assessed recovery from listening-related fatigue. In Experiment I, significantly higher lapses of attention were observed in the multi-talker babble condition during the final 25% of trials, despite no significant differences in overall reaction times. Experiment II demonstrated that both aPVT and vPVT showed significant fatigue effects over time, with high internal consistency (Cronbach's alpha: 0.88–0.95) and decreasing Intraclass Correlation Coefficients as tasks progressed. Test-retest reliability varied across measures, with post-task fatigue ratings showing good reliability (ICC = 0.763). Experiment III revealed that subjective fatigue levels approached baseline approximately 60 min post-task. Across all experiments, subjective fatigue measures (Visual Analog Scale) showed significant increases post-task, aligning with objective performance declines. The aPVT effectively induces and tracks listening-related fatigue. Fatigue occurs regardless of task type, with multi-talker babble more taxing than steady-state noise. An optimal 60-min rest period is recommended between fatigue-inducing tasks.