The ‘Distraction Effect’ and Information Processing Complexity

Perception ◽  
1973 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
pp. 79-89 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shirley Fisher
Keyword(s):  
Information Processing ◽  
Task Performance ◽  
Single Channel ◽  
Processing System ◽  
Processing Load ◽  
Distraction Effect ◽  
Stimulus Response ◽  
Serial Task ◽  
Response Task ◽  
Additional Explanation

It was found earlier that a transient ‘distraction effect’ was apparent when 80 dB noise bursts occurred at random during an on-going serial-response task. Experiments are now reported in which the information processing ‘load’ of the on-going serial task was varied (a) by the introduction of increased stimulus predictability, or (b) by the introduction of stimulus–response incompatibility. On the notion that the information processing system acts as a single channel, with increased stimulus predictability there should be a reduced distraction effect, because there would be more capacity available for responding to noise bursts whilst maintaining serial task performance; the reverse should be true for the case of increased stimulus–response incompatibility. Results suggested that the ‘distraction effect’ was reduced in both cases. An additional explanation suggesting that the information processing load of the task itself determined whether or not the noise bursts were providing effective rivalry with the task signals is considered.

A ‘Distraction Effect’ of Noise Bursts

Perception ◽  
1972 ◽  
Vol 1 (2) ◽  
pp. 223-236 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shirley Fisher
Keyword(s):  
Information Processing ◽  
Detailed Analysis ◽  
Noise Burst ◽  
Processing Stage ◽  
Distraction Effect ◽  
Close Analysis ◽  
Response Task

The experiment was designed to investigate the effects of 2 s, 80 dB noise bursts on a five-choice serial response task, using ‘close’ analysis of data. A localised effect of noise burst onset was reported. This effect was confined to the distribution of ‘first responses’, following noise burst onset but not ‘offset’, and occurred on only a proportion of trials. Detailed analysis of the occurrence of the brief delays suggested that there was no systematic occurrence, that the information processing stage of the on-going serial response might be important, and, finally, that ‘distraction’ and not ‘paralysis’ provided a better description of the mechanism of the effect.

Study of the Single Channel Hypothesis and Input Regulation within a Continuous, Simultaneous Task Situation

1965 ◽  
Vol 17 (1) ◽  
pp. 37-46 ◽  
Author(s):  
Louis M. Herman
Keyword(s):  
Information Processing ◽  
Task Performance ◽  
Discrimination Task ◽  
Single Channel ◽  
Task Characteristics ◽  
Performance Support ◽  
Information Processing Model ◽  
Task Relevance ◽  
Decision Type ◽  
Single Versus

Subjects performed simultaneously on an auditory tracking and an auditory discrimination task, with each, task presented to a separate ear. Information transmitted on the tasks was measured as a function of ability to predict task characteristics, input information-rate, and input discriminability. Based on comparison of single-versus simultaneous-task performance, support was found for a single, central decision-type channel in information processing, having as one primary limit the rate at which information can be accepted. Discriminability of inputs also was found to be a limit on information processing rate. Although ability to predict a task's characteristics facilitated performance on that task, in this experiment it did not result in facilitation of performance on the second task. Relevance of these findings to certain aspects of Broadbent's information-processing model is discussed.

The Microstructure of Dual-Task Interaction. 1. The Patterning of Main-Task Responses within Secondary-Task Intervals

Perception ◽  
1975 ◽  
Vol 4 (3) ◽  
pp. 267-290 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shirley Fisher
Keyword(s):  
Information Processing ◽  
Dual Task ◽  
Secondary Task ◽  
Main Task ◽  
Task Instructions ◽  
Random Occurrence ◽  
Attention Process ◽  
Serial Task ◽  
Response Task ◽  
The Way

The patterning or microstructure of a situation where subjects were presented with two sets of information from two independent ‘high decision’ information processing tasks, was investigated. Thirty-two subjects worked at the five-choice serial-response task (designated by instructions to be the main task), whilst being presented with a transformation task which required that seven had to be added to a presented auditory digit (designated by instructions to be the secondary task). Results suggested that subjects were not able to process two streams of information in parallel, and that the way in which the attention process was ordered was partly a function of task instructions and partly a function of the random occurrence of each digit in relation to the on-going serial task. Results also gave support to the view that the locus of disruption was the production of the response to the secondary task. Explanations of this effect are considered.

Effects of information processing load in abstinent and nonabstinent smokers' psychomotor task performance

2006 ◽  
Vol 8 (3) ◽  
pp. 425-433 ◽  
Author(s):  
Thomas Marzilli ◽  
Kristin Florence Willhoit ◽  
Mark Guadagnoli
Keyword(s):  
Information Processing ◽  
Task Performance ◽  
Processing Load

Combining Time and Intensity Effects in Assessing Operator Information-Processing Load

1997 ◽  
Vol 39 (1) ◽  
pp. 30-47 ◽  
Author(s):  
Keith C. Hendy ◽  
Jianqiao Liao ◽  
Paul Milgram
Keyword(s):  
Information Processing ◽  
Traffic Control ◽  
Air Traffic Control ◽  
Quantitative Description ◽  
Processing System ◽  
Air Traffic ◽  
Human Information Processing ◽  
Processing Load ◽  
And Performance ◽  
Operator Workload

A quantitative description of the human information processor is required for predicting operator workload and performance from the simulated task time line data generated by task network models and related methods. Although many models of workload exist, few appear to be well founded in theory or to provide a satisfactory basis for a quantitative representation of operator load. Adherents of both time-and intensity-based models of operator load individually claim success for their methods. which might suggest that both factors are operating in determining operator workload and performance. This paper describes a study that explicitly investigates the relationship between a time-based factor and an intensity-based factor (amount of information to be processed) within a simulated air traffic control environment. A model is developed that posits that the load on the human information-processing system results directly from the ratio of the time necessary to process the required information to the time allowable for making a decision. This ratio, which can be identified with time pressure, determines subjective estimates of workload as well as operator performance. The model is tested against the data from the air traffic control simulation.

scholarly journals Linking the brain with behaviour: the neural dynamics of success and failure in goal-directed behaviour

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Amanda K Robinson ◽  
Anina N Rich ◽  
Alexandra Woolgar
Keyword(s):  
Information Processing ◽  
Temporal Dynamics ◽  
Relevant Information ◽  
Perceptual Information ◽  
Information Coding ◽  
Perceptual Decision Making ◽  
Time Resolved ◽  
Incorrect Decision ◽  
Stimulus Response ◽  
Response Task

The human brain is extremely flexible and capable of rapidly selecting relevant information in accordance with task goals. Regions of frontoparietal cortex flexibly represent relevant task information such as task rules and stimulus features when participants perform tasks successfully, but less is known about how information processing breaks down when participants make mistakes. This is important for understanding whether and when information coding recorded with neuroimaging is directly meaningful for behaviour. Here, we used magnetoencephalography (MEG) to assess the temporal dynamics of information processing, and linked neural responses with goal-directed behaviour by analysing how they changed on behavioural error. Participants performed a difficult stimulus-response task using two stimulus-response mapping rules. We used time-resolved multivariate pattern analysis to characterise the progression of information coding from perceptual information about the stimulus, cue and rule coding, and finally, motor response. Response-aligned analyses revealed a ramping up of perceptual information prior to a correct response, suggestive of internal evidence accumulation. Strikingly, when participants made a stimulus-related error, and not when they made other types of errors, patterns of activity initially reflected the stimulus presented, but later reversed, and accumulated towards a representation of the incorrect stimulus. This suggests that the patterns recorded at later timepoints reflect an internally generated stimulus representation that was used to make the (incorrect) decision. These results illustrate the orderly and overlapping temporal dynamics of information coding in perceptual decision-making and show a clear link between neural patterns in the late stages of processing and behaviour.

Energy Expenditure and Fatigue During Simple Repetitive Tasks

1967 ◽  
Vol 9 (6) ◽  
pp. 563-566 ◽  
Author(s):  
William R. Pierson ◽  
George Q. Rich
Keyword(s):  
Oxygen Consumption ◽  
Task Performance ◽  
Arm Movement ◽  
Initial Speed ◽  
Stimulus Response ◽  
Repetitive Tasks ◽  
Steady Rate ◽  
Male College ◽  
Consumption Rates ◽  
Response Task

Twenty-five male college students were measured for oxygen consumption during a simple stimulus-response task. Performance, as measured by reaction time and speed of arm movement, maintained a steady state except for a period of work decrement which had no relationship to initial speed or isotonic endurance. Oxygen consumption was maintained at a steady rate throughout the task. Fatigue, work decrement, and endurance were not reflected in oxygen consumption rates.

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