scholarly journals Assessment of Age Differences in Mental Workload while Driving using Verbal versus Visual-Spatial Subsidiary Tasks

2006 ◽  
Vol 50 (22) ◽  
pp. 2378-2382 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ben Schlorholtz ◽  
Frank Schieber
Keyword(s):  
Age Differences ◽  
Mental Workload ◽  
Visual Spatial

Effects of Cogintive Functioning on Strategic System Engineering

2005 ◽  
Vol 49 (3) ◽  
pp. 342-346
Author(s):  
Michael Goings ◽  
Stephen A. Cyr ◽  
Steve Hall ◽  
Shawn Doherty
Keyword(s):  
System Design ◽  
Mental Workload ◽  
System Engineering ◽  
Cognitive Resources ◽  
Research Paradigm ◽  
Spatial Encoding ◽  
Resource Conflict ◽  
Multiple Resources ◽  
Visual Spatial ◽  
Three Stages

Mental workload is an important construct in psychology. Using various methods, researchers have investigated ways to reduce the amount of workload imposed on system operators. Reducing workload through system design might be facilitated by identifying required cognitive resources and designing the system so that tasking does not impose resource conflict which may cause a decrement in performance. Wickens' multipleresource theory has expanded on the three stages of processing (encoding, centralprocessing, and responding) to include cognitive resources, such as visual/spatial encoding, spatial/abstract processing, and manual discrete and non-discrete responding resources which are identified in this model. This study represents a first step towards building a research paradigm in which the amount of resource conflict (resulting in performance decrements) is estimated by taxing multiple resources simultaneously.

scholarly journals Sensitivity of the Spatial Distribution of Fixations to Variations in the Type of Task Demand and Its Relation to Visual Entropy

2021 ◽  
Vol 15 ◽  
Author(s):  
Piero Maggi ◽  
Francesco Di Nocera
Keyword(s):  
Spatial Distribution ◽  
Adaptive Systems ◽  
Mental Workload ◽  
Experimental Studies ◽  
Transportation Systems ◽  
Task Demands ◽  
Entropy Rate ◽  
Mental Demand ◽  
Visual Spatial ◽  
Different Types

Ocular activity is known to be sensitive to variations in mental workload, and recent studies have successfully related the distribution of eye fixations to the mental load. This study aimed to verify the effectiveness of the spatial distribution of fixations as a measure of mental workload and its sensitivity to different types of demands imposed by the task: mental, temporal, and physical. To test the research hypothesis, two experimental studies were run: Experiment 1 evaluated the sensitivity of an index of spatial distribution (Nearest Neighbor Index; NNI) to changes in workload. A sample of 30 participants participated in a within-subject design with different types of task demands (mental, temporal, physical) applied to Tetris game; Experiment 2 investigated the accuracy of the index through the analysis of 1-min epochs during the execution of a visual-spatial task (the “spot the differences” puzzle game). Additionally, NNI was compared to a better-known ocular mental workload index, the entropy rate. The data analysis showed a relation between the NNI and the different workload levels imposed by the tasks. In particular: Experiment 1 demonstrated that increased difficulty, due to higher temporal demand, led to a more dispersed pattern with respect to the baseline, whereas the mental demand led to a more grouped pattern of fixations with respect to the baseline; Experiment 2 indicated that the entropy rate and the NNI show a similar pattern over time, indicating high mental workload after the first minute of activity. That suggests that NNI highlights the greater presence of fixation groups and, accordingly, the entropy indicates a more regular and orderly scanpath. Both indices are sensitive to changes in workload and they seem to anticipate the drop in performance. However, the entropy rate is limited by the use of the areas of interest, making it impossible to apply it in dynamic contexts. Conversely, NNI works with the entire scanpath and it shows sensitivity to different types of task demands. These results confirm the NNI as a measure applicable to different contexts and its potential use as a trigger in adaptive systems implemented in high-risk settings, such as control rooms and transportation systems.

Age differences in mental workload while performing visual search task

2008 ◽  
pp. 247-252
Author(s):  
Miwa Takahara ◽  
Kazumitsu Shinohara ◽  
Takahiko Kimura ◽  
Toshiaki Miura
Keyword(s):  
Visual Search ◽  
Age Differences ◽  
Search Task ◽  
Visual Search Task ◽  
Mental Workload

Dual Task Assessment of Age Differences in Mental Workload with Implications for Driving

1995 ◽  
Vol 39 (2) ◽  
pp. 167-171 ◽  
Author(s):  
Carryl L. Baldwin ◽  
Frank Schieber
Keyword(s):  
Age Differences ◽  
Dual Task ◽  
Mental Arithmetic ◽  
Task Complexity ◽  
Mental Workload ◽  
Older Drivers ◽  
Cognitive Capacity ◽  
Verbal Response ◽  
Arithmetic Task ◽  
Task Conditions

Older drivers constitute the fastest growing segment of the driving population, in terms of both number of drivers and number of miles driven. Accident analyses reveal that older drivers are not able to fully compensate for emerging reductions in perceptual/cognitive capacity. Establishment of a method of assessing older drivers with perceptual/cognitive impairments which place them at risk of accidents is imperative. In this investigation, a subsidiary task of mental arithmetic was demonstrated to be sensitive to age differences in relative mental workload resulting from increased steering task complexity in a simulated driving task. As steering task difficulty increased, verbal response latency to concurrent mental arithmetic problems increased for older, but not younger, participants. Steering error remained stable across single and dual task conditions indicating that the secondary mental arithmetic task did not interfere with steering (primary task) performance. These results provide preliminary support for the use of this assessment technique outside of the laboratory in actual driving situations.

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