Strategic predictors of performance in a divided attention task

Abstract

In this study we investigate the strategies of subjects in a complex divided attention task. We conducted a series of experiments with ten participants and evaluated their performance. After an extensive analysis, we identified four strategic measures that justify the achievement of the participants, by highlighting the individual differences and predicting performance in a regression analysis using generalized estimating equations. Selecting the more urgent task and user action between multiple simultaneous possibilities form two of the strategic decisions, respectively. The third one refers to choosing a response within the same task when the opportunity is present. The fourth and most important measure of strategy involves thinking ahead and executing an action before a situation would become critical. This latter one has the effect of reducing later cognitive load or timing constraints and it is shown to explain almost as much variance in performance as the other three, more straightforward predictors together. In addition to determining these strategic predictors, we also show how manipulating task difficulty induces a shift in strategy, thus impairing human performance in the rehearsed task. The results of this study indicate that considerable differences in the divided attention ability of normal subjects can be identified early and with simple measurements. The importance of describing and analyzing strategies is also emphasized, which can substantially influence performance in complex tasks and may serve training needs.

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“…One might argue that our results are biased because of the selection of the trials for comparison from the mouse control version. However, the intermediate phase was the part where subjects were familiar with the DA Game and could play comfortably after the beginner phase [24]. In the advanced phase difficulty was high in order to test the effects of time pressure, so this would not provide a proper comparison.…”

“…In our previous work [24] we conducted a longitudinal study with mouse control and presented in detail the design process of the DA Game used in our experiments. Thus, here we only describe briefly the purpose of the task and present the design elements of the gaze-based control version.…”

“…In our previous work [24], we have performed a longitudinal study with 10 participants, who were asked to play with the regular mouse control version of the DA Game. The volunteers were aged between 25 and 30 (mean age was 27 years, SD=1.76), had normal or corrected-to-normal vision and reported no attention disorders nor color vision deficiency.…”

“…The details of the experiments with the mouse control version of the DA Game are presented in our previous work [24]. For the purposes of this study we selected 10 consecutive trials from the intermediate phase to compare them in all of our analyses with the 10 gaze control trials.…”

“…The second strategic measure is called planning or planning ahead and is defined in detail in our previous work [24], where it was found the most important predictor of performance in a regression analysis. It involves thinking in advance, executing an action before the situation would become critical and has the effect of reducing future timing constraints and/or cognitive load.…”