Is Multitasking Just a Form of Difficulty?

Abstract

<p>With the advancement of technologies like in-car navigation and smartphones, concerns around how cognitive functioning is influenced by ``workload'' are increasingly prevalent. Research shows that spreading effort across multiple tasks can impair cognitive abilities through an overuse of resources, and that similar overload effects arise in difficult single-task paradigms. We developed a novel lab-based extension of the Detection Response Task, which measures workload, and paired it with a Multiple Object Tracking Task to manipulate cognitive load. Load was manipulated either by changing within-task difficulty or by the addition of an extra task. Using quantitative cognitive modelling we showed that these manipulations cause similar cognitive impairments through diminished processing rates, but that the introduction of a second task tends to invoke more cautious response strategies that do not occur when only difficulty changes. We conclude that more prudence should be exercised when directly comparing multitasking and difficulty-based workload impairments, particularly when relying on measures of central tendency.</p>

A Broader Application of the Detection Response Task to Cognitive Tasks and Online Environments

“…These measures have been used in research on fatigue and in dual-task research. Examples include the "brake response task" (Strayer & Johnston, 2001;Strayer & Drew, 2004;Strayer, Drews, & Crouch, 2006), the "peripheral detection task" (PDT: Van Winsum, Herland, & Martens, 1999;van Winsum, 2019), the "psychomotor vigilance task" (PVT: Dinges & Powell, 1985;Dinges et al, 1997;Roach, Dawson, & Lamond, 2006;Basner & Dinges, 2011Ratcliff & Strayer, 2014), the "tactile detection task" (TDT: Diels, 2011) and the "detection response task" as in ISO:17488 (2016) (DRT: Strayer et al, 2013Strayer et al, , 2015Strayer, 2015;Strayer, Cooper, Turrill, Coleman, & Hopman, 2017;Castro, Strayer, Matzke, & Heathcote, 2019;Howard, Evans, Innes, Brown, & Eidels, 2019). The brake response task requires participants to brake as quickly as possible to traffic hazards in simulated, and real world, driving environments.…”

A broader application of the detection response task to cognitive tasks and online environments

“…These measures have been used in research on fatigue and in dual-task research. Examples include the "brake response task" (Strayer & Johnston, 2001;Strayer & Drew, 2004;Strayer, Drews, & Crouch, 2006), the "peripheral detection task" (PDT: Van Winsum, Herland, & Martens, 1999;van Winsum, 2019), the "psychomotor vigilance task" (PVT: Dinges & Powell, 1985;Dinges et al, 1997;Roach, Dawson, & Lamond, 2006;Basner & Dinges, 2011Ratcliff & Strayer, 2014), the "tactile detection task" (TDT: Diels, 2011) and the "detection response task" as in ISO:17488 (2016) (DRT: Strayer et al, 2013Strayer et al, , 2015Strayer, 2015;Strayer, Cooper, Turrill, Coleman, & Hopman, 2017;Castro, Strayer, Matzke, & Heathcote, 2019;Howard, Evans, Innes, Brown, & Eidels, 2019). The brake response task requires participants to brake as quickly as possible to traffic hazards in simulated, and real world, driving environments.…”