The effect of spatial and temporal task characteristics on performance, workload, and stress (original) (raw)
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Performance, workload, and stress correlates of temporal and spatial task demands
PsycEXTRA Dataset, 2000
Increased understanding of the mechanisms by which stress impacts performance is essential to the design and operation of complex information systems. T h s study represents a test of the hypothesis of Hancock, Szalma, and Weaver (2002) that the attentional narrowing observed under stressful conditions results from spatial and temporal perception drawing on common resource capacities. Although the present results were unable to resolve the specific issue to a satisfactory degree, a novel finding was observed that noise increases leniency in responding. The impact of noise on performance thus depends on the characteristics of the task to be performed, with spatial uncertainty exerting a significant influence on perceived workload.
Combining spatial and temporal task demands: Effects on performance, workload, and stress
PsycEXTRA Dataset, 2000
An experiment is described examining the effect of combining spatial and temporal task demands on performance, workload, and stress associated with perceptual discriminations at two levels of difficulty. The effect of intermittent bursts of white noise was also examined. According to the maximal adaptability model, the joint effects of task type, noise exposure, and discrimination difficulty should produce a performance decrement as well as increased perceived workload and stress. Although results conformed to expectation for task manipulation, intermittent white noise and discrimination difficulty did not have the interactive effect predicted according to the maximal adaptability model. Implications for future research are discussed.
Human Factors: The Journal of the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society, 2004
The workload and stress associated with a 40-min vigilance task were examined under conditions wherein observers monitored an auditory or a visual display for changes in signal duration. Global workload scores fell in the midrange of the NASA Task Load Index, with scores on the Frustration subscale increasing linearly over time. These effects were unrelated to the sensory modality of signals. However, sensory modality was a significant moderator variable for stress. Observers became more stressed over time as indexed by responses to the Dundee Stress State Questionnaire, with evidence of recovery in the auditory but not the visual condition toward the end of the watch. This result and the finding that signal detection accuracy -although equated for difficulty under alerted conditions -favored the auditory mode, indicate that display modality and time on task should be considered carefully in the design of operations requiring sustained attention in order to enhance performance and reduce stress. Actual or potential applications of this research include domains in which monitoring is a crucial part, such as baggage screening, security operations, medical monitoring, and power plant operations.
The effects of task type and source complexity on vigilance performance, workload, and stress
PsycEXTRA Dataset, 2000
The present study investigated the effects of task type (cognitive vs. sensory) and source complexity (number of displays to be monitored) of the performance, workload, and stress associated with vigilance. Results affirmed the utility of the cognitive-sensory task distinction of the vigilance taxonomy, although in contrast to previous research the cognitive task was associated with lower performance and higher levels of perceived workload and stress. The results also indicated that both task type and source complexity exhibited the typical performance-workload associations previously reported in research on sustained attention.
Effects of task difficulty and time‐on‐task on mental workload
Twelve subjects performed a tracking task and a memory search task simultaneously on a computer screen. The dual task continued for approximately 10 min and was repeated three times, interrupted by a short break for subjective ratings: the NASA Task Load Index (NASA-TLX) and the Check List of Mental Condition. Event related potentials (ERP) evoked by the presentation of memory task stimuli were also recorded. All the subjects participated in three experimental sessions, which varied in difficulty of tracking task. Results demonstrated that the NASA-TLX and ERP were sensitive only to the change in task difficulty and were not affected by time-on-task or interaction between task difficulty and time-on-task.
Psychophysiological Metrics for Workload are Demand-Sensitive but Multifactorial
Proceedings of the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society Annual Meeting, 2014
Various psychophysiological indices of mental workload exhibit sensitivity to task demand factors, but the psychometrics of indices has been neglected. In particular, the extent to which different metrics converge on a common latent factor is unclear. In the present study, 150 participants performed in four task scenarios based on a simulation of unmanned vehicle operation. Scenarios required threat detection and/or change detection. Both single-and dual-task scenarios were used. Workload metrics were derived from the electroencephalogram (EEG), electrocardiogram (ECG), transcranial Doppler sonography (TCD), functional Near Infra-Red (fNIR) and eyetracking. Subjective workload was also assessed. Several metrics were appropriately sensitive to the differing levels of task load presented by the four scenarios. However, factor analysis identified multiple factors, each of which was associated with a single response system only, with no general factor. Caution should be used in assessing workload in the individual operator.
Cognitive workload effects behavior like squeezing a balloon. If you squeeze at one place, it pops out at another, and it is hard to predict where it's going to pop out. Understanding workload requires understanding the control of cognition at the 1/3 to 3s-time span during which cognitive, perceptual, and motor operations become bound together into interactive routines. Interactive routines constitute unit tasks (3 to 30 s), and unit tasks constitute subtasks (30s to 3min). To reduce cognitive workload and overload, the Functional Resource Hypothesis maintains that an optimal allocation of interactive routines to task performance would be based on the functional resource of time not modality. Some of the implications of this hypothesis are investigated in an empirical study that varied memory load as well as the demands on the eyes, visual attention, auditory cognition, and motor operations. A microanalysis of the data revealed tradeoffs between groups in their pattern of resource allocation that were compatible with the Functional Resource Hypothesis and led to surprising behavioral effects.
Latency Differences Between Mental Workload Measures in Detecting Workload Changes
2018
Mental workload has traditionally been measured by three different methods corresponding to its primary reflections: performance, subjective and physiological measures. Although we would expect a certain degree of convergence, research has shown that the emergence of disassociations and insensitivities between measures is very frequent. One possible explanation could be related to the differing latencies between each workload assessment method. We tested this explanation by manipulating task complexity through time spent performing a simulated air-traffic control task. In the experimental session, we collected physiological (pupil size), performance and subjective data. Our results showed two periods of bad performance caused by high traffic density and aircraft configurations. Those periods corresponded to higher mental workload as detected by subjective and physiological measures. However, subjective mental workload reacted sooner than physiological mental workload to task demands...
Towards the Shape of Mental Workload
PsycEXTRA Dataset
Mental workload is a measure of how much mental effort a person devotes to one or more tasks. In two experiments, we investigated the effect of multiple identical tasks on human performance in terms of both accuracy and response time for a visuo-spatial task set and an auditory task set. The findings showed that participants performed linearly worse on some measures of performance when the number of tasks increased, while other measures showed two distinctive variations on this linear decrease in performance. We discuss these results in terms of their effect on the traditional linear representation of workload in IMPRINT (IMproved Performance Research INtegration Tool, Archer & Adkins, 1999), a task-based human performance modeling system.
The Significance of Verbal and Spatial Attentional Resources on Mental Workload and Performance
2015
— For decades, scientists have been studying the impact of task workload on individual performance. The purpose of this study was to examine and validate the difficulty levels of two visual tasks (verbal and spatial) to be used in a later experiment studying the interaction of physical and mental workload on attentional resources and performance. Additionally, the study was conducted to determine if a significance difference exists between how men and women perform these types of tasks. The verbal and spatial task workloads satisfied the difficulties levels. Keywords-mental; workload; attentional resources; verbal; spatial I.