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.

Subjective Workload Assessment in a Memory Update Task

1982 ◽  
Vol 26 (7) ◽  
pp. 643-647 ◽  
Author(s):  
F. Thomas Eggemeier ◽  
Mark S. Crabtree ◽  
Jennifer J. Zingg ◽  
Gary B. Reid ◽  
Clark A. Shingledecker
Keyword(s):  
Task Difficulty ◽  
Short Term Memory ◽  
Memory Task ◽  
Relative Sensitivity ◽  
Short Term ◽  
Term Memory ◽  
Assessment Technique ◽  
Memory Error ◽  
Subjective Workload

Twelve subjects performed a short-term memory task under several difficulty levels and rated the workload associated with each condition using the Subjective Workload Assessment Technique (SWAT). SWAT ratings proved more sensitive than memory error to task difficulty variations in all but one of the most difficult memory conditions. Most importantly, SWAT ratings demonstrated their greatest relative sensitivity at the lowest levels of workload. The results are interpreted as supporting the applicability of SWAT as a sensitive workload index.

Time-of-day effects on objective and subjective short-term memory task performance

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-14
Author(s):  
Anna Ceglarek ◽  
Magdalena Hubalewska-Mazgaj ◽  
Koryna Lewandowska ◽  
Barbara Sikora-Wachowicz ◽  
Tadeusz Marek ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Task Performance ◽  
Short Term Memory ◽  
Memory Task ◽  
Time Of Day ◽  
Short Term ◽  
Term Memory

The Effect of Delayed Report on Subjective Ratings of Mental Workload

1983 ◽  
Vol 27 (2) ◽  
pp. 139-143 ◽  
Author(s):  
F. Thomas Eggemeier ◽  
Mark S. Crabtree ◽  
Patricia A. LaPointe
Keyword(s):  
Task Difficulty ◽  
Short Term Memory ◽  
Mental Workload ◽  
Memory Task ◽  
Subjective Ratings ◽  
Delay Effect ◽  
Short Term ◽  
Term Memory ◽  
Assessment Technique ◽  
Secondary Objective

Forty-eight subjects performed a short-term memory task with several difficulty levels and provided either immediate or delayed ratings of workload via the Subjective Workload Assessment Technique (SWAT). Mean SWAT ratings did not vary significantly as a function of delayed report, but a substantial number of subjects gave delayed ratings that were discrepant from their immediate ratings. A counterbalancing effect in delayed ratings appears to have been a factor in the failure of the delay effect to reach significance. A secondary objective of this study was to examine the sensitivity of SWAT in a between-subjects design. SWAT ratings varied significantly as a function of task difficulty manipulations, supporting the sensitivity of SWAT to the workload of the conditions used.

scholarly journals A comparison of dopaminergic and cholinergic populations reveals unique contributions of VTA dopamine neurons to short-term memory

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jung Yoon Choi ◽  
Heejae Jang ◽  
Sharon Ornelas ◽  
Weston Fleming ◽  
Daniel Fürth ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Ventral Tegmental Area ◽  
Short Term Memory ◽  
Memory Task ◽  
Delay Period ◽  
Dopamine Neurons ◽  
The Other ◽  
Nucleus Basalis ◽  
Short Term ◽  
Term Memory ◽  
Low Activity

AbstractWe systematically compared the contribution of two dopaminergic and two cholinergic ascending populations to a spatial short-term memory task in rats. In ventral tegmental area dopamine (VTA-DA) and nucleus basalis cholinergic (NB-ChAT) populations, trial-by-trial fluctuations in activity during the delay period related to performance with an inverted-U, despite the fact that both populations had low activity during that time. Transient manipulations revealed that only VTA-DA neurons, and not the other three populations we examined, contributed causally and selectively to short-term memory. This contribution was most significant during the delay period, when both increases or decreases in VTA-DA activity impaired short-term memory. Our results reveal a surprising dissociation between when VTA-DA neurons are most active and when they have the biggest causal contribution to short-term memory, while also providing new types of support for classic ideas about an inverted-U relationship between neuromodulation and cognition.

scholarly journals Brain hemodynamic response in Examiner–Examinee dyads during spatial short-term memory task: an fNIRS study

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Francesco Panico ◽  
Stefania De Marco ◽  
Laura Sagliano ◽  
Francesca D’Olimpio ◽  
Dario Grossi ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Working Memory ◽  
Cognitive Processes ◽  
Short Term Memory ◽  
Spatial Working Memory ◽  
Brain Activity ◽  
Memory Task ◽  
Neural Correlates ◽  
Short Term ◽  
Term Memory ◽  
The Real

AbstractThe Corsi Block-Tapping test (CBT) is a measure of spatial working memory (WM) in clinical practice, requiring an examinee to reproduce sequences of cubes tapped by an examiner. CBT implies complementary behaviors in the examiners and the examinees, as they have to attend a precise turn taking. Previous studies demonstrated that the Prefrontal Cortex (PFC) is activated during CBT, but scarce evidence is available on the neural correlates of CBT in the real setting. We assessed PFC activity in dyads of examiner–examinee participants while completing the real version of CBT, during conditions of increasing and exceeding workload. This procedure allowed to investigate whether brain activity in the dyads is coordinated. Results in the examinees showed that PFC activity was higher when the workload approached or reached participants’ spatial WM span, and lower during workload conditions that were largely below or above their span. Interestingly, findings in the examiners paralleled the ones in the examinees, as examiners’ brain activity increased and decreased in a similar way as the examinees’ one. In the examiners, higher left-hemisphere activity was observed suggesting the likely activation of non-spatial WM processes. Data support a bell-shaped relationship between cognitive load and brain activity, and provide original insights on the cognitive processes activated in the examiner during CBT.

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