The effect of divided attention on probe reaction time in multiple-task performance.

1977 ◽  
Vol 31 (4) ◽  
pp. 174-183 ◽  
Author(s):  
Paul Stager ◽  
Gerald J. Laabs
Keyword(s):  
Reaction Time ◽  
Task Performance ◽  
Divided Attention ◽  
Probe Reaction Time ◽  
Multiple Task

Predictive Performance Models and Multiple Task Performance

1989 ◽  
Vol 33 (2) ◽  
pp. 96-100 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christopher D. Wickens ◽  
Inge Larish ◽  
Aaron Contorer
Keyword(s):  
Task Performance ◽  
Divided Attention ◽  
Predictive Performance ◽  
Flight Simulation ◽  
Complex Task ◽  
Performance Models ◽  
Helicopter Flight ◽  
Multiple Tasks ◽  
Multiple Resource ◽  
Multiple Task

This symposium presents five models that predict how performance of multiple tasks will interact in complex task scenarios. The models are discussed, in part, in terms of the assumptions they make about human operator divided attention. The different assumptions about attention are empirically validated in a multitask helicopter flight simulation reported in the present paper. It is concluded from this simulation that the most important assumption relates to the coding of demand level of different component tasks. The potential gains to be made multiple resource assumptions remain uncertain.

An Audiovisual Test of Divided Attention

1976 ◽  
Vol 43 (1) ◽  
pp. 51-57 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. J. Bach ◽  
D. L. Bruce
Keyword(s):  
Adverse Effect ◽  
Reaction Time ◽  
Task Performance ◽  
Divided Attention ◽  
Visual Stimuli ◽  
Reaction Times ◽  
Drug Effects ◽  
Reaction Time Task ◽  
Anesthetic Gases ◽  
Depressant Drug

A description is given of an audiovisual reaction time task, performance of which was maximal after 15 min. practice and which lasted at this level for 1 wk. Sensitivity of the test was shown in an adverse effect of inhalation of traces of anesthetic gases. Comparing responses to auditory and visual stimuli, the control auditory reaction times were faster but were lengthened more in the presence of anesthetics than were the visual ones. This test may be useful in other studies of subtle depressant drug effects.

Contribution of the Premotor Cortex to Consolidation of Motor Sequence Learning in Humans During Sleep

2010 ◽  
Vol 104 (5) ◽  
pp. 2603-2614 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael A. Nitsche ◽  
Michaela Jakoubkova ◽  
Nivethida Thirugnanasambandam ◽  
Leonie Schmalfuss ◽  
Sandra Hullemann ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Reaction Time ◽  
Task Performance ◽  
Rem Sleep ◽  
Sequence Learning ◽  
Memory Consolidation ◽  
Primary Motor Cortex ◽  
Premotor Cortex ◽  
Reaction Time Task ◽  
Motor Memory ◽  
Motor Sequence

Motor learning and memory consolidation require the contribution of different cortices. For motor sequence learning, the primary motor cortex is involved primarily in its acquisition. Premotor areas might be important for consolidation. In accordance, modulation of cortical excitability via transcranial DC stimulation (tDCS) during learning affects performance when applied to the primary motor cortex, but not premotor cortex. We aimed to explore whether premotor tDCS influences task performance during motor memory consolidation. The impact of excitability-enhancing, -diminishing, or placebo premotor tDCS during rapid eye movement (REM) sleep on recall in the serial reaction time task (SRTT) was explored in healthy humans. The motor task was learned in the evening. Recall was performed immediately after tDCS or the following morning. In two separate control experiments, excitability-enhancing premotor tDCS was performed 4 h after task learning during daytime or immediately before conduction of a simple reaction time task. Excitability-enhancing tDCS performed during REM sleep increased recall of the learned movement sequences, when tested immediately after stimulation. REM density was enhanced by excitability-increasing tDCS and reduced by inhibitory tDCS, but did not correlate with task performance. In the control experiments, tDCS did not improve performance. We conclude that the premotor cortex is involved in motor memory consolidation during REM sleep.

TASKILLAN: A Simulation to Predict the Validity of Multiple Resource Models of Aviation Workload

1988 ◽  
Vol 32 (2) ◽  
pp. 168-172 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christopher D. Wickens ◽  
Kelly Harwood ◽  
Leon Segal ◽  
Inge Tkalcevic ◽  
Bill Sherman
Keyword(s):  
Task Performance ◽  
Model Validation ◽  
Predictive Models ◽  
Spatial Awareness ◽  
Level Flight ◽  
Helicopter Flight ◽  
Processing Resources ◽  
Multiple Resource ◽  
Multiple Task ◽  
Over Time

The objective of this research was to establish the validity of predictive models of workload in the context of a controlled simulation of a helicopter flight mission. The models that were evaluated contain increasing levels of sophistication regarding their assumptions about the competition for processing resources underlying multiple task performance. Ten subjects performed the simulation which involved various combinations of a low level flight task with three cognitive side tasks, pertaining to navigation, spatial awareness and computation. Side task information was delivered auditorily or visually. Results indicated that subjective workload is best predicted by relatively simple models that simply integrate the total demands of tasks over time (r = 0.65). In contrast, performance is not well predicted by these models (r < .10), but is best predicted by models that assume differential competition between processing resources (r = 0.47). The relevance of these data to predictive models and to the use of subjective measures for model validation is discussed.

Behavioral consequence of painful electric shock

1962 ◽  
Vol 17 (2) ◽  
pp. 333-337 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. J. Dinnerstein ◽  
M. Lowenthal
Keyword(s):  
Reaction Time ◽  
Task Performance ◽  
Choice Reaction Time ◽  
Shock Intensity ◽  
Electric Shock ◽  
September 11 ◽  
Laboratory Simulation ◽  
Painful Electric Shock ◽  
Pathological Pain ◽  
The Difference

Choice reaction time and hand steadiness were studied under conditions in which correct performance of a task produced painful electric shock. Task performance deteriorated in response to shock. Deterioration was greater when shock was applied to the active hand than when applied to the passive hand. The hand steadiness test also involved variation in shock intensity and administration of aspirin or placebo. Tremor increased with shock intensity, and aspirin decreased the difference in performance between shock and nonshock trials. The methods employed offer a means of laboratory simulation of disability produced by pathological pain and a possible means of evaluation of analgesic effectiveness. Submitted on September 11, 1961

Methodology in the Use of Synthetic Tasks to Assess Complex Performance

1967 ◽  
Vol 9 (4) ◽  
pp. 375-384 ◽  
Author(s):  
Earl A. Alluisi
Keyword(s):  
Task Performance ◽  
Face Validity ◽  
Trade Offs ◽  
Specific Performance ◽  
Psychological Functions ◽  
Multiple Task

The application of synthetic tasks to the assessment of complex performance is discussed in relation to the trade-offs involved in achieving adequate levels of face validity and in specifying the exact changes in psychological functions that may result from particular environmental manipulations. It is argued that the multiple-task performance battery approach can provide levels of face validity adequate to maintain the motivation of subjects while at the same time permitting the identification of changes in specific performance functions. The characteristics of this approach are discussed in relation to a program of research on the effects of confinement and demanding work-rest schedules on crew performance.

scholarly journals Cognitive impairment as a function of sleep quality and gender

2019 ◽  
pp. 4
Author(s):  
R. Akhil ◽  
B.P. Nair
Keyword(s):  
Working Memory ◽  
Reaction Time ◽  
Sleep Quality ◽  
Sustained Attention ◽  
Divided Attention ◽  
Poor Sleep ◽  
Poor Sleep Quality ◽  
Vigilance Test ◽  
And Gender ◽  
Good Sleep

Background: The study aims at finding whether there is any significant difference between sub-groups classified on the basis of sleep quality (good sleep quality and poor sleep quality) and gender in the performance of various cognitive functioning tests like Visual N Back Test (N Back 1and N Back 2 test) for working memory, Triad test for divided attention, Digit Vigilance Test for sustained attention and Reaction time test (simple reaction time and choice reaction time). Materials and methods: The sample consisted of 30 participants, both males (N=13) and females (N=17) in the age range between 18 to 30 years, randomly drawn from Thiruvananthapuram and Kollam districts of Kerala. The participants of the study are screened and categorized into two groups of 15 members each on the basis of the scores obtained in the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI). t-test and two-way ANOVA were performed to test the significance of the hypotheses. Results: The results showed that the participants with poor sleep quality significantly differed from those with good sleep quality and committed more number of errors in the triad test of divided attention and took more time and committed more errors in the completion of the digit vigilance test of sustained attention. Conclusion: A gender advantage favoring females was seen on the test of working memory, test for sustained attention and the test for choice reaction time. An interaction between sleep quality and gender was noticed only on the test of divided attention. It was seen that males with poor sleep quality are more impaired in divided attention tasks than females with poor sleep quality.

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