Benson is the head of security for a large government facility covering several square miles. He has to screen people entering and leaving the facility, watch for wild animals entering areas where they could pose a risk, and monitor the weather. Describe the role of sensory ability in task performance, and explain how it applies to Benson's job.

Question

What will be an ideal response?

Answer 1

Student answers will vary but should demonstrate understanding of sensory ability and how it applies to Benson's job. A sample answer follows.

Sensory ability refers to capabilities associated with vision and hearing. Examples of important visual abilities include the ability to see things up close and at a distance (near and far vision) or in low light contexts (night vision), as well as the ability to perceive colors and judge relative distances between things accurately (visual color discrimination and depth perception). There are many different jobs that emphasize only one or two of these visual abilities. For example, whereas effectiveness as a watch repairer depends on good near vision, effectiveness as an interior designer depends on visual color discrimination. However, there are other jobs in which effectiveness might depend on almost all categories of visual abilities. A fighter pilot needs near vision to read instruments and checklists, far vision and depth perception to see enemy targets and landmarks, night vision to conduct operations in low light, and visual color discrimination to interpret information from warning lights and computer readouts correctly. Abilities related to hearing, also referred to as auditory abilities, include the capability to hear and discriminate sounds that vary in terms of loudness and pitch (hearing sensitivity), being able to focus on a single sound in the presence of many other sounds (auditory attention), and the ability to identify and understand the speech of another person (speech recognition).

Benson must be able to notice small details about people, use long range vision in all types of lighting conditions to monitor the facility, and scrutinize identification cards and other documents. He needs to listen to conversations and listen for sounds like wild animals, weather, or anything out of the ordinary that may pose a security threat.