The P300 amplitude of a secondary task is found to decrease in dual task situations compared with the corresponding single task situation of performing the secondary task alone, and is regarded as an effective real-time index of mental workload. In this article we describe a successful extension and application of the queueing network human performance model to quantify and model this major finding in P300, based on the neurophysiological mechanisms of P300. A comparison of the simulation results of the model with the corresponding experimental results in the literature indicates that the model quantifies human performance and the change of P300 amplitude in single and dual task conditions accurately. The model has not only a solid basis in its biological mechanism, but also potential value in real time workload prediction and application. Further developments of the model in simulating other dimensions of mental workload and its potential applications in adaptive system design are discussed.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
Aston-JonesG.CohenJ. D. (2005). An integrative theory of locus coeruleus-norepinephrine function: Adaptive gain and optimal performance. Annual Review of Neuroscience, 28, 403–450.
2.
BaronS.CorkerK. (1989). Engineering-based approaches to human performance modeling. In McMillanG. R.BeevisD.SalasE.StrubM. H.SuttonR.BredaL. V. (Eds.), Applications of Human Performance Models to System Design (pp. 203–218). New York: Plenum.
3.
BearM. F.ConnorsB. W.ParadisoM. A. (2001). Neuroscience: exploring the brain (8th ed.). Baltimore, MD: Lippincott Williams & Wilkins.
4.
CardS.MoranT. P.NewellA. (1983). The psychology of human-computer interaction. Hinsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.
5.
ChubbG. P.LaugheryK. R.PritskerA. B. B. (1987). Simulating manned systems. In SalvendyG. (Ed.), Handbook of Human Factors & Ergonomics. New York: Wiley.
6.
DonchinE. (1979). Event-related brain potentials: A tool in the study human information processing. In BegleiterH. (Ed.), Evoked potentials and behavior (pp. 13–75). New York: Plenum.
7.
FeyenR. (2002). Modeling Human Performance using the Queuing Network — Model Human Processor (QN-MHP). Doctoral Thesis, Department of Industrial and Operations Engineering, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor.
8.
GrayC. M.FreemanW. J.SkinnerJ. E. (1986). Chemical dependencies of learning in the rabbit olfactory bulb: Acquisition of the transient spatial pattern change depends on norepinephrine. Behavioral Neuroscience, 100(4), 585–596.
9.
HainesD. E. (2002). Fundamental Neuroscience. New York: Churchill Livingstone.
10.
HarrisR. M.GlennF.IavecchiaH. P.ZakladA. (1986). Human operator simulator. In KarwoskiW. (Ed.), Trends in Ergonomic: Human Factors III (Part A). Amsterdam: North-Holland.
11.
LevisonW. H. (1979). A model for mental workload in tasks requiring continuous information processing. In MorayN. (Ed.), Mental Workload: Its Theory and Measurement (pp. 189–218). New York: Plenum.
12.
LimJ.LiuY. (2004). A queueing network model of menu selection and visual search. Paper presented at the Proceedings of the 48 Annual Conference of the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society, New Orleans, Louisiana, USA.
LiuY. (1997). Queuing network modeling of human performance of concurrent spatial and verbal tasks. IEEE Transactions on Systems Man and Cybernetics Part a-Systems and Humans, 27(2), 195–207.
15.
LiuY.FeyenR.TsimhoniO. (in press). Queueing Network-Model Human Processor (QN-MHP): A Computational Architecture for Multitask Performance. ACM Transaction on Human Computer Interaction.
16.
MorayN. (1988). Mental workload since 1979. International Review of Ergonomics, 2, 123–150.
17.
MorayN.DessoukyM. I.KijowskiB. A.AdapathyaR. (1991). Strategic Behavior, Workload, and Performance in Task-Scheduling. Human Factors, 33(6), 607–629.
18.
NeffN. H.SpanoP. F.GroppettiA.WangC. T.CostaE. (1971). A simple procedure for calculating the synthesis rate of norepinephrine, dopamine and serotonin in rat brain. The Journal of Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics, 176, 701–709.
19.
NellgardB. M. G.MiuraY.MackensenG. B.PearlsteinR. D.WarnerD. S. (1999). Effect of intracerebral norepinephrine depletion on outcome from severe forebrain ischemia in the rat. Brain Research, 847(2), 262–269.
20.
NieuwenhuisS.Aston-JonesG.CohenJ. D. (in press). Decision making, the P3, and the locus coeruleus-norepinephrine system. Psychological Bulletin.
21.
NieuwenhuisS.GilzenratM. S.HolmesB. D.CohenJ. D. (2005). The role of the locus coeruleus in mediating the attentional blink: A neurocomputational theory. Journal of Experimental Psychology-General, 134(3), 291–307.
22.
NorthR. A.RileyV. A. (1989). W/INDEX: A predictive model of operator workload. In McMillanG. R.BeevisD.SalasE.StrubM. H.SuttonR.BredaL. V. (Eds.), Applications of Human Performance Models to System Design (pp. 203–218). New York: Plenum.
23.
NunezP. L. (1981). Electric Fields of the Brain. New York: Oxford University Press.
24.
ParasuramanR. (1990). Event-related brain potentials and human factors research. In RohrbaughJ. W.ParasuramanR.JohnstonR.Jr. (Eds.), Event-related brain potentials. London, UK: Oxford University Press.
25.
PatonJ. F. R.FosterW. R.SchwaberJ. S. (1993). Characteristic Firing Behavior of Cell-Types in the Cardiorespiratory Region of the Nucleus-Tractus-Solitarii of the Rat. Brain Research, 604(1–2), 112–125.
26.
RiekeF.WarlandD.BialekR.S.R.W. (1997). Spikes: Exploring the Neural Code (Computational Neuroscience): MIT Press.
27.
RouseW. B. (1980). Systems Engineering Models of Human-Machine Interaction. New York: North Holland.
28.
RouseW. B.EdwardsS. L.HammerJ. M. (1993). Modeling the Dynamics of Mental Workload and Human-Performance in Complex-Systems. IEEE Transactions on Systems Man and Cybernetics, 23(6), 1662–1671.
29.
RuggM. D.ColesM. G. H. (1995). Electrophysiology of Mind. New York: Oxford University Press.
30.
TsangP. S.VidulichM. A. (2003). Principles and practice of aviation psychology. Mahwah, NJ.: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.
31.
WickensC.KramerA.VanasseL.DonchinE. (1983). Performance of Concurrent Tasks - a Psychophysiological Analysis of the Reciprocity of Information-Processing Resources. Science, 221(4615), 1080–1082.
32.
WuC.LiuY. (2004). Modeling human transcription typing with queuing network-model human processor. Paper presented at the Proceedings of the 48th Annual Meeting of Human Factors and Ergonomics Society, New Orleans, Louisiana, USA.
33.
WuC.LiuY. (2004). Modeling Psychological Refractory Period (PRP) and Practice Effect on PRP with Queuing Networks and Reinforcement Learning Algorithms. Paper presented at the Proceedings of the 6th International Conference on Cognitive Modeling (ICCM-2004), Pittsburgh, PA, USA.
34.
XieB.SalvendyG. (2000). Review and reappraisal of modeling and predicting mental workload in single-and multi-task environments. Work & Stress, 14(1), 74–99.
