人机互动中的任务中断：新环境中的新问题

任务中断是“R-V”居间系统（“现实-虚拟”居间系统）中的人机互动所要频繁面临和处理的一种现象。任务中断对主任务执行的影响主要有三种情况：消极的、积极的和因情况而异的。对中断延迟期间心理作用机制的研究揭示了中断延迟期间的准备是如何对主任务恢复发生作用的,主要理论包括：任务转换理论,长时工作记忆理论,目标记忆理论和线程认知理论。任务转换理论为中断延迟作用机制的研究提供了基础的模式,目标记忆理论和长时工作记忆理论各自提出了复述和编码两种不同的观点,线程认知理论主张多线程并行,深化了任务中断的研究。未来的研究应关注于研究中断对主任务执行产生不同影响的原因、影响中断任务执行期间复述机会的因素以及中断延迟期间的准备是对信息的复述还是编码。对任务中断理论的综述意义在于使未来有关任务中断的研究更加深入且具有实践意义。     

这不是我的工作！不合规任务及其对员工的影响

不合规任务, 作为一种新型职场压力源, 近几年逐渐成为组织管理研究领域的一个前沿话题。不合规任务是指不符合人们预期工作范围、不应由自己完成或不必要执行的任务, 包括不合理任务和不必要任务。不合规任务对员工情绪、认知、动机、工作态度、工作行为、身心健康, 以及工作-家庭关系均有一定的负面影响, 影响性质和强度取决于员工的个体特征和所处的情境特征。压力-自我冒犯理论、公平理论、工作要求-资源模型、工作特征模型、情感事件理论和自我决定理论是解释不合规任务影响的主要理论。未来研究可拓展不合规任务的概念和层次、探索和整合作用机制、探讨不合规任务的权变效应、考察不合规任务的影响因素以及开展文化情境和文化导向的研究。     

任务中断对幼儿前瞻记忆的影响

本研究采用实验方法研究了年龄及当前进行任务中不同位置的中断对幼儿前瞻记忆的影响。结果发现：(1)年龄对幼儿前瞻记忆成绩有显著影响;(2)在1／4中断和无中断条件下,幼儿的前瞻记忆成绩较好,在1／2中断和3／4中断条件下．幼儿前瞻记忆成绩较差。     

作业中断对任务绩效的影响及心理疲劳的调节作用

作业中断会对中断后行为绩效产生影响,探讨不同疲劳状态下中断对作业绩效影响的认知机制将有助于完善和发展中断的认知理论。本研究采用事件相关电位(ERP),通过在不同心理疲劳状态下执行数学题任务中断、暂停中断和不中断的空间2-back任务,结合行为数据和ERPs结果,分析作业中断对任务绩效的影响以及心理疲劳在其中的调节作用。实验结果发现,中断后诱发的P200和P300振幅显著提高,作业中断使得主任务的注意力资源下降,任务中断的无关信息干扰了主任务工作记忆,而疲劳状态则进一步加剧了中断对注意资源、工作记忆及行为绩效的负面效应。本研究在揭示作业中断认知过程及疲劳对其影响机理的同时,也支持了中断的目标记忆模型。     

任务类型对不同SOA条件下基于颜色重复劣势效应的影响*

采用探测任务和辨别任务,分别考察了不同线索与目标呈现时间间隔(SOA)条件下出现的基于颜色的重复劣势效应(repetition disadvantage,RD)。研究结果发现:探测任务下和辨别任务下出现基于颜色的RD效应分别倾向于解释为重复知盲现象和基于颜色的IOR效应。关于不同的任务类型对基于颜色的RD效应的影响,可以用特征个体化理论解释。实验3采用Go/No go任务,通过进一步地分析提出任务类型背后,被试对目标刺激的语义加工水平才是影响基于颜色RD效应抑制本质的关键因素。关于该因素对基于颜色重复劣势效应的影响,可以用评价窗口理论解释。     

跨通道情境下双任务范式与计时中断范式中的效应比较*

为了探讨跨通道情境下同一种刺激序列中双任务范式与计时中断范式中位置效应和间断效应的异同,研究设计了实验1和实验2。实验1以2500 ms和4500 ms为目标时距,采用相同的刺激序列(视觉呈现时距信号,听觉呈现干扰信号或中断信号),要求3组被试分别在控制、干扰及中断条件下完成相应任务,结果发现不管2500 ms或4500 ms时,中断条件较干扰条件和控制条件的间断效应更明显;同时发现在2500 ms时,不管控制、干扰还是中断条件下均发现了位置效应,而4500 ms时仅在中断条件下出现了位置效应,这可能由于实验1的控制及干扰任务中的4500 ms时的“晚”位置的时间确定性较高,以致掩盖了位置效应。为了降低“晚”位置出现的确定性,更好地对比两种范式中的效应,实验2将目标时距设置为1500 ms和2500 ms,结果发现在1500 ms或2500 ms时,不管控制、干扰还是中断条件下均发现了位置效应,且中断条件较干扰条件和控制条件下间断效应更明显。上述结果意味着跨通道情境下同一种刺激序列中双任务范式与计时中断范式中位置效应是否相同局限在一定时间范畴;计时中断范式中的中断效应对计时的消弱较双任务范式干扰效应更显著。     

关于小学儿童算术策略的理论及研究

关于儿童算术策略的研究一直是国内外心理学家关心的热点．围绕着儿童算术认知策略的发现、选择和运行机制,心理学家提出了表征翻译理论和竞争淡判理论．同时心理学家还提出了几种算术认知策略的理论模型。进行儿童算术认知策略研究的经典方法主要是精密时计法和口语报告法,采用的研究任务范式主要是产生式任务和验证式任务。题目结构类型、工作记忆广度和数位概念等因素影响儿童算术策略的使用。近几年,有关小学儿童算术认知策略的研究得到了长足发展。     

任务切换理论争议新证据

任务切换是研究认知控制的主要范式之一。大量研究发现切换试次比重复试次的反应时更长,错误率更高,这种差异称为切换代价。任务切换时所产生切换代价的理论解释主要有惯性论、重构论和联结论。近十年来,这些理论均获得新的实验支持和发展,但其争议依旧,没有哪一理论能成功解释任务切换的所有效应。未来研究可以建立整合模型,以准确描述切换代价产生的认知机制。     

注意资源理论及其进展

注意的资源理论是注意研究的一个重要理论。本文介绍了注意资源理论中的“总体任务资源”和“特定任务资源”两种理论,比较了二者的差异、各自的优势以及理论局限性,并提出了关于注意资源理论中值得注意的若干问题。     

注意觉察系统：实现多任务环境下的人机交互

注意觉察系统是以认知心理学和认知工效学为理论基础设计的、能在多任务环境下帮助用户管理任务中断及转移的新型人机交互系统。本文概述了注意觉察系统的三大功能体系,研究现状,并对这种系统的未来发展趋势作了展望。     

How do we handle interruptions? Investigating the processes underlying the resumption of interrupted tasks

Although many researchers have studied interruptions and how detrimental they can be for performance, only a small number of studies have successfully identified the cognitive processes involved in the resumption of the primary task after an interruption. We carried out two experiments in which the complexity and the timing of interruption were manipulated. The participants also completed a set of cognitive tests assessing cognitive functions, such as working memory, inhibition or shifting, etc. Results showed that decreasing the complexity and introducing the interruption later in the task reduced the time needed to resume the primary task [i.e. resumption lag (RL)]. Moreover, the complexity effect was related to inhibition, shifting, selective attention and automation, while timing was related to working memory and divided attention. This study provides clues to help us better understand the processes involved when we interrupt our activities and indicates the need to look more deeply at the processes underlying resumption after interruptions.     

The time-course of recovery from interruption during reading: Eye movement evidence for the role of interruption lag and spatial memory

Two experiments examined how interruptions impact reading and how interruption lags and the reader's spatial memory affect the recovery from such interruptions. Participants read paragraphs of text and were interrupted unpredictably by a spoken news story while their eye movements were monitored. Time made available for consolidation prior to responding to the interruption did not aid reading resumption. However, providing readers with a visual cue that indicated the interruption location did aid task resumption substantially in Experiment 2. Taken together, the findings show that the recovery from interruptions during reading draws on spatial memory resources and can be aided by processes that support spatial memory. Practical implications are discussed.     

What makes interruptions disruptive? A study of length,similarity, and complexity

Summary Classic work on interruptions by Zeigarnik showed that tasks that were interrupted were more likely to be recalled after a delay than tasks that were not interrupted. Much of the literature on interruptions has been devoted to examining this effect, although more recently interruptions have been used to choose between competing designs for interfaces to complex devices. However, none of this work looks at what makes some interruptions disruptive and some not. This series of experiments uses a novel computer-based adventure-game methodology to investigate the effects of the length of the interruption, the similarity of the interruption to the main task, and the complexity of processing demanded by the interruption. It is concluded that subjects make use of some form of non-articulatory memory which is not affected by the length of the interruption. It is affected by processing similar material however, and by a complex mentalarithmetic task which makes large demands on working memory.     

Timecourse of recovery from task interruption: Data and a model

Interruption of a complex cognitive task can entail, for the “interruptee,” a sense of having to recover afterward. We examined this recovery process by measuring the timecourse of responses following an interruption, sampling over 13,000 interruptions to obtain stable data. Response times dropped in a smooth curvilinear pattern for the first 10 responses (15 sec or so) of postinterruption performance. We explain this pattern in terms of the cognitive system retrieving a displaced mental context from memory incrementally, with each retrieved element adding to the set of primes facilitating the next retrieval. The model explains a learning effect in our data in which the timecourse of recovery changes over blocks, and is generally consistent with current representational theories of expertise.     

The Role of Interruptions and Contextual Associations in Delayed‐Execute Prospective Memory

We conducted three experiments to examine the dynamics of a delayed‐execute prospective memory task involving task interruptions. In the delayed‐execute paradigm, participants must delay a response until some future condition is met. After an intention was formed to a salient cue, an interruption reduced prospective memory relative to a no‐interruption condition. Prospective memory for cues encountered during an interrupting task was worse than for cues occurring before an interruption, but the location of the cue in either the ongoing task or the interruption did not affect prospective memory. Importantly, reinstating the prevailing context after the interruption alleviated the negative influence of the interruption. Providing participants with information about the future context for making the delayed‐execute response also alleviated some of these deficits presumably because participants could encode more specific features of the performance context. These results highlight the potential importance of contextual associations and reminders in completing everyday intentions successfully. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

A naturalistic study of prospective memory in preschoolers: The role of task interruption and motivation

We conducted two naturalistic experiments to investigate preschoolers’ development of event-based prospective memory (PM) and to examine the effects of motivation and interruption of an ongoing task. Children aged 2–6 years were asked to perform familiar PM tasks while engaged in their habitual kindergarten play. PM performance improved systematically across the preschool years. The type of PM response (motor or verbal) did not affect performance. High motivation was necessary for 2-year-olds to perform well, and it remained an important factor that increased performance across the entire preschool age range. The need to interrupt an ongoing activity decreased performance in 3-, 4-, and 5-year-olds, but not in children aged 2 or 6 years. The pattern of results is consistent with explanations for interruption effects that highlight the role of inhibitory control.     

Mitigating disruptive effects of interruptions through training: what needs to be practiced?

It is generally accepted that, with practice, people improve on most tasks. However, when tasks have multiple parts, it is not always clear what aspects of the tasks practice or training should focus on. This research explores the features that allow training to improve the ability to resume a task after an interruption, specifically focusing on task-specific versus general interruption/resumption-process mechanisms that could account for improved performance. Three experiments using multiple combinations of primary tasks and interruptions were conducted with undergraduate psychology students. The first experiment showed that for one primary and interruption task-pair, people were able to resume the primary task faster when they had previous practice with the interruption. The second experiment replicated this finding for two other sets of primary and interruption task-pairs. Finally, the third experiment showed that people were able to resume a primary task faster only when they had previous practice with that specific primary and interruption task-pair. Experience with other primary and interruption task-pairs, or practice on the primary task alone, did not facilitate resumption. This suggests that a critical component in resuming after an interruption is the relationship between two tasks. These findings are in line with a task-specific mechanism of resumption and incompatible with a general-process mechanism. These findings have practical implications for developing training programs and mitigation strategies to lessen the disruptive effects of interruptions which plague both our personal and professional environments.     

The time-course of recovery from interruption during reading: eye movement evidence for the role of interruption lag and spatial memory

Two experiments examined how interruptions impact reading and how interruption lags and the reader's spatial memory affect the recovery from such interruptions. Participants read paragraphs of text and were interrupted unpredictably by a spoken news story while their eye movements were monitored. Time made available for consolidation prior to responding to the interruption did not aid reading resumption. However, providing readers with a visual cue that indicated the interruption location did aid task resumption substantially in Experiment 2. Taken together, the findings show that the recovery from interruptions during reading draws on spatial memory resources and can be aided by processes that support spatial memory. Practical implications are discussed.     

The effect of different distractions on remembering delayed intentions

In safety-critical domains, frequently intentions need to be delayed until an ongoing task is completed. Research using the delay-execute paradigm showed that interruptions during the delay cause forgetting. However, staff members often handle an initial distraction not by interrupting the ongoing task but by acknowledging the distraction or multitasking. In Experiments 1a and 1b, we observed that, compared to a no distraction condition, multitasking significantly decreased remembering of intentions and interrupting decreased remembering even further. In Experiment 2, interruptions with context change reduced remembering of intentions compared to uninterrupted delays, and at the same time, interruptions without context change improved memory performance compared to uninterrupted delays. However, improved memory performance resulted in decreased interrupting task performance. Theoretically, the results support the contextual cueing mechanism of delay-execute tasks. Considering safety-critical domains, multitasking, interruptions and context changes can contribute to forgetting of tasks.