Effects of different physical workload parameters on mental workload and performance

DiDomenico, Angela; Nussbaum, Maury A.

doi:10.1016/j.ergon.2011.01.008

Cited by 104 publications

(60 citation statements)

References 23 publications

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“…The assessment of mental workload is an important aspect in the design and evaluation of occupational tasks [7]. The interaction between an operator and an assigned task is an important measurement because it provides awareness as to where increased task demands could lead to a negative impact on human performance.…”

Section: Mental Workloadmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In place of physical dexterity, reasoning has become more significant. Also, physically demanding work that is performed simultaneously with a cognitive task can influence mental workload by weakening mental processing or decreasing performance [7]. Therefore, in order to improve human system design for performance in manufacturing, the system design should include cognitive ergonomics in order to evaluate the cognitive elements of a task.…”

Section: Cognitive Ergonomicsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Effective workload needs the least attention because it relates to efficiency; however, "more attention is needed under the ineffective mode to control each stage of information processing" [6]. The assessment of mental workload is an important aspect in the design and evaluation of occupational tasks [7]. The interaction between an operator and an assigned task is an important measurement because it provides awareness as to where increased task demands could lead to a negative impact on human performance.…”

Section: Mental Workloadmentioning

confidence: 99%

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A theoretical framework for evaluating mental workload resources in human systems design for manufacturing operations

2018

International Journal of Industrial Ergonomics

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Manufacturing is a human-driven process that applies energy and manpower to produce consumer goods. In repetitive task processes like manufacturing systems, optimal performance is extremely important for the production employee and the company.In the general fast pace of manufacturing operations, there is the potential for operator errors, which correlates to possible safety issues and loss of revenue. This research explores the influence of cognitive resources on operator performance in manufacturing operations using the Multiple Resource Theory (MRT) and mental workload measures. Computer simulation models and mathematical modeling with Improved PerformanceResearch Integration Tool (IMPRINT) were used to assess mental workload resources to improve human system design for performance of the shop floor employee. This research presents the design, analysis and experimental implementation of a theoretical framework that provides a systematic approach for measuring mental workload using a combination of analytical and empirical techniques. Two experiments are presented to show the effectiveness of the proposed framework. As manufacturing operations become more complex, models can be used to provide recommendations for operator mental workload capacity planning. Therefore, this work is important to industry as manufacturing operations are changing by requiring more complex procedures, which increases the cognitive demand of the operator.iii

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Section: Mental Workloadmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Cognitive Ergonomicsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Mental Workloadmentioning

confidence: 99%

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A theoretical framework for evaluating mental workload resources in human systems design for manufacturing operations

2018

International Journal of Industrial Ergonomics

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“…However, when attempting to evaluate the physiological effects of short-term psychological stressors the effectiveness of such techniques is diminished. Instead, assessment of physiological characteristics including respiration rate and skin conductance (Oetting, 1966;Sher et al, 2007) in addition to changes in heart rate and variability, blood pressure and body temperature are often utilised (Brown et al, 2006(Brown et al, , 2003DiDomenico and Nussbaum, 2011;Hodgson et al, 2004;Moon and Cho, 2001). Although these methods return rapid results, all are subject to considerable biological variation, introducing uncertainty during comparison between individuals and populations.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Leukocyte responsiveness, a quantitative assay for subjective mental workload

Shelton-Rayner

Mian²,

Chandler

et al. 2012

International Journal of Industrial Ergonomics

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Assessing psychological stress and mental workload within work-based scenarios relies heavily upon qualitative, subjective, self-assessment techniques, many of which were originally intended for identifying specific pathological disorders and have reduced sensitivity when evaluating everyday stressors. Quantitative measures involve monitoring changes in the cardiopulmonary system and stress hormone concentration. Although these (e.g. heart rate and blood pressure) provide a basic, reactive indication of the presence of a psychological stressor, many are subject to influence by other bio-mechanisms, or are unable to provide rapid results due to complex laboratory analysis. This study demonstrates how immune responsiveness, known to be influenced by psychological stress, can be used to assess changes in mental workload. Healthy male and female subjects (aged between 26 and 55 years) provided capillary blood samples before and after completing the same, basic, driver-related tasks followed by a simple manoeuvre in two unfamiliar motor vehicles. Using a chemiluminescent technique termed Leukocyte Coping Capacity (LCC), the ability of leukocytes to produce reactive oxygen species in vitro was assessed. Significant post-stressor changes in leukocyte activity were demonstrated between treatment groups. These findings add weight to the proposition that leukocyte activation is a useful quantitative measure of psychological stress and mental loading in humans. This study demonstrates the diagnostic ability of LCC for use during ergonomic evaluation, however the potential industrial applications for this technique are numerous and diverse. KEY WORDSChemiluminescence; Ergonomics; Leukocytes; Mental Workload; Psychological Stress; Reactive Oxygen Species. 3 ABBREVIATIONSHmax-RLU adj , maximum control adjusted leukocyte activity; LCC, leukocyte coping capacity; RLU adj , control adjusted relative light units; T-max, time taken (minutes) to reach maximum control adjusted leukocyte activity; T=5, 10, and 15minutes, control adjusted leukocyte activity at 5, 10, and 15 minutes, respectively, into the 45 minute chemiluminescence sampling protocol. INTRODUCTIONEvaluation of psychological stress -a threat which would not require a physiological response which elicits physiological consequences (Segerstrom and Miller, 2004) relies heavily upon qualitative psychometric measures. Examples include: Present State Examination (Baker et al., 2003), the Brief Symptom Inventory (Brosig et al., 2007;Cuculi et al., 2006;Fellinger et al., 2007;Mansbach et al., 2005), and the BussDurkee Hostility Inventory (Bag et al., 2005). All were primarily designed to identify specific pathologic disorders, and validated using dysfunctional clinical populations with abnormal statistical distributions. Consequently these proved to have limited sensitivity when used to test below intended critical diagnostic thresholds (Lemyre and Tessier, 1988) -such as when investigating psychological and physiological transient laboratory stressors.As psychological...

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“…This boost in mental performance may be seen in simpler tasks involving simple detection, visual search and discriminative choice response. 29 Alertness may be temporarily heightened following shortduration, submaximal physical exercises. However, it remains unclear if mental performance can consistently be boosted with the same physical exertions as the system user becomes increasingly experienced.…”

Section: Mental and Physical Workloadmentioning

confidence: 99%

Workload, awareness and automation in multiple-robot supervision

Wong

Seet

2017

International Journal of Advanced Robotic Systems

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Using a single human to supervise multiple robots helps to address manpower constraints while deriving the benefits of multiple-robot deployment such as efficiency and improved system reliability. However, it can also induce high supervisor workload and diminish situation awareness. This article explains workload and situation awareness. It reviews various studies related to human-robot systems to illustrate the effects and causes of workload and diminished situation awareness in such systems. The article reviews and discusses the application of automation to address workload and situation-awareness concerns. It also presents the issues that the use of automation can cause, highlighting that automation must be applied with care. The article advocates the consideration of sliding autonomy for four aspects of task execution: information acquisition, information analysis, decision selection and action implementation. It additionally encourages the appreciation for recognized methods of applying and triggering automation. The hope is for robots to be equipped with adjustable autonomy across multiple aspects of task performance to create robotic systems with highly flexible autonomy configurations. While robots from such systems may have the flexibility to deal with numerous situation requirements, the research challenge is understanding if and how such flexibility will affect human workload.

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Effects of different physical workload parameters on mental workload and performance

Cited by 104 publications

References 23 publications

A theoretical framework for evaluating mental workload resources in human systems design for manufacturing operations

A theoretical framework for evaluating mental workload resources in human systems design for manufacturing operations

Leukocyte responsiveness, a quantitative assay for subjective mental workload

Workload, awareness and automation in multiple-robot supervision

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