Citation

Werner NE, Foroughi CK, Baldwin C, Youmans R, Boehm-Davis DA. Theor. Issues Ergonomics Sci. 2018; 19(1): 118-134.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2018, Informa - Taylor and Francis Group)

DOI

10.1080/1463922X.2017.1284282

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

The objectives of this research were to (1) explore whether goal-activation models of procedurally based interrupted task performance can be applied to content production, and if not, (2) develop a new theoretical account, and (3) provide support for that theory. Experiment 1 found that interruptions during planning resulted in less developed plans, and that available theoretical models could not account for performance. Experiment 2 leveraged Verbal Protocol Analysis to explore the cognitive mechanisms underlying interrupted task performance on a content production task. We found support for a combination of processes: (1) cues and environmental context, and (2) task activation levels. These results suggested a spreading activation account of interrupted task performance. Experiment 3 provided further support for spreading activation by comparing short and long interruptions. These results have broad implications for moving our understanding of interrupted task performance forward by expanding our understanding to non-procedural task performance.

Language: en

Keywords

associate activation; interrupted task performance; Interruptions; spreading activation