The effect of intervening task performance on subjective workload ratings

1984 ◽  
Author(s):  
F. Thomas Eggemeier ◽  
Brian E. Melville ◽  
Mark S. Crabtree
Keyword(s):  
Task Performance ◽  
Subjective Workload

Mobile Evaluations in a Lab Environment

2008 ◽  
pp. 910-926
Author(s):  
Murray Crease ◽  
Robert Longworth
Keyword(s):  
Task Performance ◽  
Mobile Device ◽  
Mobile Applications ◽  
Mobile Application ◽  
Real Life ◽  
Factor Mobility ◽  
Subjective Workload ◽  
Simple Classification

The evaluation of mobile applications is increasingly taking into account the users of such applications’ mobility (e.g., Mizobuchi, Chignell, & Newton, 2005; Mustonen , Olkkonen, & Hakkinen, 2004). While clearly an important factor, mobility on its own often does not require the user’s visual focus to any great extent. Real-life users, however, are required to be aware of potential hazards while moving through their environment. This chapter outlines a simple classification for describing these distractions and two evaluations into the effect visual distractions have on the users of a mobile application. In both cases, the participants were required to monitor both their environment and the display of their mobile device. The results of both evaluations indicated that monitoring the environment has an effect on both task performance and the subjective workload experienced by the participants, indicating that such distractions should be considered when designing future evaluations.

Effects of Speech Intelligibility, Morphological Confusions, and Redundancy on Task Performance

1996 ◽  
Vol 40 (5) ◽  
pp. 308-312
Author(s):  
Leslie A. Whitaker ◽  
Mike McCloskey ◽  
Leslie J. Peters
Keyword(s):  
Task Performance ◽  
Speech Intelligibility ◽  
Message Content ◽  
Hearing Impairments ◽  
Subjective Workload ◽  
Degraded Speech ◽  
Successful Communication ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Speed And Accuracy ◽  
Communication Equipment

Speech is a vital means of communication for completing many tasks. The speech intelligibility needed for successful communication may be degraded by ambient noise levels, poor communication equipment, or hearing impairments. The present research tested the impact of speech message content on task performance under conditions of degraded speech intelligibility. Sixteen subjects participated in a laboratory experiment using on a board game. Message redundancy, morphological confusions, and speech intelligibility were varied. Task performance and subjective workload were measured. Morphological confusions adversely affected performance (both speed and accuracy) and subjective workload (SWAT) to an increasingly greater extent as speech intelligibility decreased. High redundancy improved the accuracy of performance and subjective workload when speech intelligibility decreased; however, high redundant messages were longer and required more time to process than low redundant messages. These results extend earlier work which measured the impact of morphological confusions and redundancy on speech intelligibility itself to the measurement of their impact on performance. Implications for the development of message content guidelines and their impact on performance are discussed.

The Effect of Intervening Task Performance on Subjective Workload Ratings

1984 ◽  
Vol 28 (11) ◽  
pp. 954-958 ◽  
Author(s):  
F. Thomas Eggemeier ◽  
Brian E. Melville ◽  
Mark S. Crabtree
Keyword(s):  
Task Performance ◽  
Rating Scale ◽  
Short Term Memory ◽  
Memory Task ◽  
Delay Period ◽  
Potential Influence ◽  
Short Term ◽  
Term Memory ◽  
Assessment Technique ◽  
Subjective Workload

Thirty subjects performed a short-term memory task and used the Subjective Workload Assessment Technique (SWAT) to provide workload ratings under one of five conditions. Ratings were provided either immediately following task performance, after a delay period during which no additional tasks were performed, or after a delay period during which an additional set of memory tasks at one of three levels of difficulty was performed. Neither the delay interval nor the requirement to perform a set of intervening tasks significantly affected mean SWAT ratings relative to the immediate rating control condition. Patterns in the data suggested that performance of a set of difficult intervening tasks had the greatest tendency to affect memory task ratings, and indicate that the potential influence of intervening task performance should not be completely discounted in workload rating scale applications.

scholarly journals Validation of Trade-Off in Human–Automation Interaction: An Empirical Study of Contrasting Office Automation Effects on Task Performance and Workload

2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (4) ◽  
pp. 1288
Author(s):  
Byung Cheol Lee ◽  
Jangwoon Park ◽  
Heejin Jeong ◽  
Jaehyun Park
Keyword(s):  
Task Performance ◽  
Completion Time ◽  
Office Automation ◽  
Task Completion ◽  
Trade Off ◽  
Task Completion Time ◽  
Task Load ◽  
Subjective Workload ◽  
Human Operators ◽  
High Level

Automation aims to improve the task performance and the safety of human operators. The success of automation can be facilitated with well-designed human–automation interaction (HAI), which includes the consideration of a trade-off between the benefits of reliable automation and the cost of Failed automation. This study evaluated four different types of HAIs in order to validate the automation trade-off, and HAI types were configured by the levels and the statuses of office automation. The levels of automation were determined by information amount (i.e., Low and High), and the statues were decided by automation function (i.e., Routine and Failed). Task performance including task completion time and accuracy and subjective workload of participants were measured in the evaluation of the HAIs. Relatively better task performance (short task completion time and high accuracy) were presented in the High level in Routine automation, while no significant effects of automation level were reported in Failed automation. The subjective workload by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Task Load Index (TLX) showed higher workload in High and Failed automation than Low and Failed automation. The type of sub-functions and the task classification can be estimated as major causes of automation trade-off, and dissimilar results between empirical and subjective measures need to be considered in the design of effective HAI.

A Physical Measure of Subjective Workload

1988 ◽  
Vol 32 (17) ◽  
pp. 1131-1135 ◽  
Author(s):  
David W. Biers ◽  
Donald J. Polzella ◽  
Paul McInerney
Keyword(s):  
Task Performance ◽  
Task Difficulty ◽  
Memory Task ◽  
Subjective Rating ◽  
Physical Measure ◽  
Time Stress ◽  
Subjective Workload ◽  
Continuous Basis ◽  
Hand Dynamometer ◽  
Major Shortcoming

This investigation compared a physical measure of subjective workload (i.e., hand dynamometer) with traditional verbal scaling techniques. There were four subjective rating groups. One group employed the Subjective Workload Assessment Technique (SWAT) which required three separate ratings of time stress, mental effort, and psychological stress. A second group used verbal magnitude estimation (ME). Two physical measure groups estimated the magnitude of workload by squeezing a dynamometer in accordance with the magnitude of workload experienced. The DYNA1 group made one overall rating of workload similar to the ME group. The DYNA3 group made three workload ratings along the same dimensions as SWAT. All groups rated the workload associated with the performance of a continuous memory task under twelve levels of task difficulty. The physical measure of subjective workload most closely corresponded to actual task performance differences. The results suggest future development of a physical measure of subjective workload which can be utilized on a continuous basis, thus avoiding a major shortcoming of typical verbal measures of subjective workload.

Relating Subjective Workload and Effort to Performance During Stable and Shifting Task Demands: A Multilevel Approach

2020 ◽  
Vol 64 (1) ◽  
pp. 760-764
Author(s):  
Justine Rockwood ◽  
Derek L. Mracek ◽  
Eric Anthony Day
Keyword(s):  
Task Performance ◽  
Self Regulation ◽  
Task Demands ◽  
Subjective Workload ◽  
Model Following ◽  
Mixed Support ◽  
Objective Performance ◽  
Complex Decision Making ◽  
Complex Decision ◽  
And Task

Interrelations between subsystems in control theories of self-regulation are frequently studied at the between- person level, despite being within-person phenomena. The current study models within-person variations of comparator, effector, and output subsystems through relationships in subjective workload, subjective effort, and objective performance on a complex decision-making task during stable and shifting task demands. Effects are examined at both immediate and downstream time points. Results provided mixed support for the proposed subsystem interrelationships, fully supporting the model during stable task demands, partially supporting it following an increase in task demands, but not supporting the model following a decrease in task demands. Results indicate dynamic within-person relationships between self-regulatory subsystem indicators and task performance, underscoring the importance of using longitudinal, multilevel approaches for disaggregating within-person and between-person components.

Mobile Evaluations in a Lab Environment

2009 ◽  
pp. 2042-2060
Author(s):  
Murray Crease ◽  
Robert Longworth
Keyword(s):  
Task Performance ◽  
Mobile Device ◽  
Mobile Applications ◽  
Mobile Application ◽  
Real Life ◽  
Factor Mobility ◽  
Subjective Workload ◽  
Simple Classification

The evaluation of mobile applications is increasingly taking into account the users of such applications’ mobility (e.g., Mizobuchi, Chignell, & Newton, 2005; Mustonen , Olkkonen, & Hakkinen, 2004). While clearly an important factor, mobility on its own often does not require the user’s visual focus to any great extent. Real-life users, however, are required to be aware of potential hazards while moving through their environment. This chapter outlines a simple classification for describing these distractions and two evaluations into the effect visual distractions have on the users of a mobile application. In both cases, the participants were required to monitor both their environment and the display of their mobile device. The results of both evaluations indicated that monitoring the environment has an effect on both task performance and the subjective workload experienced by the participants, indicating that such distractions should be considered when designing future evaluations.

Effects of Aging on Subjective Workload and Performance

1992 ◽  
Vol 36 (2) ◽  
pp. 156-160 ◽  
Author(s):  
Douglas L. Boyer ◽  
Jay G. Pollack ◽  
F. Thomas Eggemeier
Keyword(s):  
Task Performance ◽  
Performance Measures ◽  
Older Workers ◽  
Short Term Memory ◽  
Age Groups ◽  
Memory Task ◽  
Mental Effort ◽  
The United States ◽  
Central Processing ◽  
Subjective Workload

Demographics indicate that the population in the United States and other industrialized nations is growing older, and that the number of older workers and systems users can be expected to increase substantially over the next several decades. In order to assess possible differences between age groups the mental workload experienced by older adults as compared to that experienced by younger adults was investigated. Two tasks were utilized to assess short term memory (continuous recognition) and psychomotor (first-order unstable tracking) performance. The workload of each task was assessed with the Subjective Workload Assessment Technique (SWAT). Memory task performance measures and subjective workload ratings indicated a decrement in performance and an increase in workload for the older group relative to the younger group. Psychomotor task performance measures and subjective workload ratings indicated no difference between the age groups. It is hypothesized that the memory task makes greater demands on central processing resources than the psychomotor task used in this study. In support of this hypothesis, an analysis of the changes in ratings on the individual SWAT dimensions of time, mental effort and psychological stress revealed that an increase occurred only on the mental effort dimension for the memory task. This study implies that designers should 1) reduce or provide design features that lessen memory laden task performance for older workers, and 2) give more weight to the reduction of central processing resource requirements in trade-off studies.

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