Abstract
The present experiment was designed to examine the possibility of a “von Restorff” effect occurring during post-task ratings of difficulty, effort and workload as a result of performing tasks containing an isolated period of high workload. The task employed was a hovercraft simulation which combined elements of skill-based tracking and rule- and knowledge-based process control. The performance of five separate tasks was compared. In the first, subjects performed missions which presented a relatively low level of workload from throughout while the second presented a high level of workload from throughout. The final three conditions were designed to produce isolated peaks in workload which occurred either early, midway or late in the mission. Results demonstrated that ratings on the three scales increased steadily as the peak approached the end of the mission. Further, the ratings for the early increase were only slightly greater than those reported for the task containing a low level of workload throughout. An analysis of error rates demonstrated that there was evidence for the dissociation of performance and workload which was especially apparent when the increase occurred at the beginning of the mission.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.