More is Less: The Effect of Single and Multiple Interleaved Interruptions on Task Resumption

2007 ◽  
Vol 51 (4) ◽  
pp. 249-252
Author(s):  
David G. Kidd ◽  
Christopher A. Monk
Keyword(s):  
Task Performance ◽  
Past Research ◽  
Daily Basis ◽  
Primary Task ◽  
Duration Task ◽  
Study Participants ◽  
Task Resumption

People experience and handle interruptions on a daily basis. One strategy that people use to manage interruptions is to interleave an interrupting task with a primary task. Past interruptions research has mostly looked at the effects of a single interruption on primary task performance. This study sought to expand on past research by examining primary task performance during a period of interleaved interruptions. In this study, participants experienced either a single interruption or a series of interruptions that increased or decreased in duration. Task resumption in both interleaved interruption conditions was significantly faster than in the single interruption condition. The findings suggest that interleaving interruptions leads to more efficient task resumption than resuming after a single interruption.

Destination, Seen Unclearly: Relevance of Head-Up Display Information to Driving Is Unrelated to Its Processing

2017 ◽  
Vol 61 (1) ◽  
pp. 1899-1903 ◽  
Author(s):  
Robert J Sall ◽  
Sijing Wu ◽  
Ian Spence ◽  
Jing Feng
Keyword(s):  
Task Performance ◽  
Primary Task ◽  
Spatial Proximity ◽  
Secondary Information ◽  
Study Participants

Studies have shown that secondary information presented in spatially commingled environments along with primary tasks can adversely affect the performance of that task, as might be the case for information delivered to drivers by a Heads-Up Display (HUD). However, it is unclear how that message’s relevance to the task at hand (e.g., driving) might impact either detection of that message, or performance of a primary task. In this study, participants were asked to enumerate cars on a screen in an experiment that sporadically presented them with semantically similar and dissimilar pieces of information in a spatially intermingled environment. The results indicate that when occupying the same spatial proximity as the primary stimuli, all secondary stimuli disrupt primary task performance, regardless of its relevance to the primary task.

The Effect of Interruption Modality on Primary Task Resumption

2008 ◽  
Author(s):  
Raj M. Ratwani ◽  
Alyssa E. Andrews ◽  
Jenny D. Sousk ◽  
Gregory Trafton
Keyword(s):  
Primary Task ◽  
Task Resumption

The Effect of Vocal Alarms on Operator Mistrust

2000 ◽  
Vol 44 (22) ◽  
pp. 694-697
Author(s):  
James P. Bliss ◽  
Freida Kilpatrick
Keyword(s):  
Past Research ◽  
Primary Task ◽  
Duty To Warn ◽  
Complex Information ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Operator Workload

The use of alarms has increased in many operational areas because of increased reliance on automation and the duty to warn about system anomalies. Past research has supported the use of verbal alarms for relaying complex information. However, researchers have not considered the impact of vocal alarms on operator trust. In this research, 56 participants reacted to auditory alarms while performing a complex primary task. Half of the participants experienced vocal alarms, and the others experienced nonvocal alarms. Contrary to expectations, we noted that participants reacted to nonverbal alarms more quickly than verbal alarms. Furthermore, participants responded to verbal alarms more often than verbal alarms. We also noted that verbal alarms interfered with the primary task more than nonverbal alarms. We suggest that alarm designers alter verbal alarm onset algorithms during high operator workload.

Diminishing Reality: Potential Benefits and Risks

2021 ◽  
Vol 65 (1) ◽  
pp. 164-168
Author(s):  
I. Murph ◽  
M. McDonald ◽  
K. Richardson ◽  
M. Wilkinson ◽  
S. Robertson ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Augmented Reality ◽  
Situational Awareness ◽  
Relevant Information ◽  
Attentional Focus ◽  
Primary Task ◽  
Training Methods ◽  
Cognitive Aids ◽  
Potential Benefits ◽  
Study Participants ◽  
Completion Times

Within distracting environments, it is difficult to maintain attentional focus on complex tasks. Cognitive aids can support attention by adding relevant information to the environment, such as via augmented reality (AR). However, there may be a benefit in removing elements from the environment, such as irrelevant alarms, displays, and conversations. De-emphasis of distracting elements is a type of AR called Diminished Reality (DR). Although de-emphasizing distraction may help focus on a primary task, it may also reduce situational awareness (SA) of other activities that may become relevant. In the current study, participants will assemble a medical ventilator during a simulated emergency while experiencing varying levels of DR. Participants will also be probed to assess secondary SA. We anticipate that participants will have better accuracy and completion times in the full DR conditions but their SA will suffer. Future applications include the design of future DR systems and improved training methods.

Does Secondary Task Measure Outcome Conflict or Resource Allocation?

1992 ◽  
Vol 36 (18) ◽  
pp. 1398-1402
Author(s):  
Pamela S. Tsang ◽  
Tonya L. Shaner
Keyword(s):  
Resource Allocation ◽  
Task Performance ◽  
Dual Task ◽  
Secondary Task ◽  
Tracking Error ◽  
Memory Task ◽  
Primary Task ◽  
Memory Probe ◽  
Temporal Predictability ◽  
Task Measure

The secondary task technique was used to test two alternative explanations of dual task decrement: outcome conflict and resource allocation. Subjects time-shared a continuous tracking task and a discrete Sternberg memory task. The memory probes were presented under three temporal predictability conditions. Dual task performance decrements in both the tracking and memory tasks suggested that the two tasks competed for some common resources, processes, or mechanisms. Although performance decrements were consistent with both the outcome conflict and resource allocation explanations, the two explanations propose different mechanisms by which the primary task could be protected from interference from the concurrent secondary task. The primary task performance could be protected by resource allocation or by strategic sequencing of the processing of the two tasks in order to avoid outcome conflict. In addition to examining the global trial means, moment-by-moment tracking error time-locked to the memory probe was also analyzed. There was little indication that the primary task was protected by resequencing of the processing of the two tasks. This together with the suggestion that predictable memory probes led to better protected primary task performance than less predictable memory probes lend support for the resource explanation.

Extra-task performance as a measure of learning a primary task.

1954 ◽  
Vol 48 (4) ◽  
pp. 298-302 ◽  
Author(s):  
Harry P. Bahrick ◽  
Merrill Noble ◽  
Paul M. Fitts
Keyword(s):  
Task Performance ◽  
Primary Task

The Impact of Auditory Task Complexity on Primary Task Performance in Military Land Vehicle Crew

2014 ◽  
Vol 58 (1) ◽  
pp. 2185-2189 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael G Lenné ◽  
Benjamin L Hoggan ◽  
Justin Fidock ◽  
Geoff Stuart ◽  
Eugene Aidman
Keyword(s):  
Task Performance ◽  
Task Complexity ◽  
Primary Task ◽  
Auditory Task ◽  
Land Vehicle ◽  
The Impact

Live-Social-Video Reward Maintains Joystick Task Performance in Bonnet Macaques

1993 ◽  
Vol 77 (3) ◽  
pp. 755-763 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael W. Andrews ◽  
Leonard A. Rosenblum
Keyword(s):  
Task Performance ◽  
Social Group ◽  
Daily Basis ◽  
Bonnet Macaques ◽  
Color Video ◽  
Pellet Reward

A number of studies have now indicated that monkeys of several species will perform hundreds of food-rewarded joystick tasks on a daily basis. Our goal in this study was to identify the level of joystick task performance that could be maintained by 10 sec. of live, color video of a conspecific social group contingent upon the completion of a joystick task. The subjects were five individually housed bonnet macaques that were highly experienced on joystick tasks. Performance with social-video reward was compared to that maintained by a 190-mg banana-flavored pellet reward and to a nonreward condition. Comparable levels of task activity were maintained by both video and pellet reward, whereas task activity nearly ceased in the absence of reward. Four of the five monkeys increased their levels of task activity between the first and second weeks of social-video reward.

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