The processing resources enabling dual task performance are modeled as a vector quantity, with dimensions defined by processing stages, processing codes, and processing modalities. This multidimensional conception is employed to model operator workload and to predict task interference patterns, employing a Sternberg task methodology. The implications to time-sharing performance are addressed as they pertain to the stage dimensions (Experiment 1: Manual Tracking), the code dimension (Experiment 2: Failure detection), and the code and modality dimension (Experiment 3: Multi-element monitoring).
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
BriggsG.PetersG.FisherR.On the locus of divided-attention effects. Perception & Psychophysics, 1972, 11(4), 315–320.
2.
NavonD.GopherD.On the economy of the human processing system. Psychological Review, 1979, 86, 214–255.
3.
SandersA. F.Some remarks on mental load. In MorayN. (Ed.). Mental Workload. New York: Plenum Press, 1979.
4.
SternbergS.The. discovery of processing stages: An extention of Dender's method. Acta Psychologica, 1969, 30, 276–315.
5.
WickensC. D.The structure of processing resources. In NickersonR.PewR. (Eds.). Attention and Performance VIII. New York: Erlbaum, 1980.
6.
WickensC. D.KesselC.Processing resource demands of failure detection in dynamic systems. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Perception and Performance, 1980, 6 (3) 554–577.
7.
WickensC. D.SandryD. L.An Investigation of dual task performance relationship to hemispheric specialization. Technical Report EPL-80–1/0NR 80–1. June, 1980.
