The Effects of Task Interruption and Information Presentation on Indmdual Decision Making

Research examining factors that influence decision-making performance has a rich tradition across multiple research disciplines. Very little of this research effort, however, has been directed at examining the influence of the decision making environment on performance. The environment of decision makers can be characterized as one with disjointed activities and frequent interruptions. Thus, an examination in an interrupted work environment would capture decision-making performance under more realistic environmental conditions than are typically examined. The effect of different information presentation formats on decisionmaking performance has received a great deal of research attention. Cognitive Fit Theory suggests that a match between the information presentation format and the task processing requirements results in greater decision accuracy and time. Previous research suggests that decision makers rely on perceptual cues that are readily available when under environmental stress. For certain task types, the availability of perceptual cues may increase information retrieval accuracy when using graphs over tables regardless of the fit between the task and the presentation format. Therefore, it is anticipated that intermp tions may moderate the relationship between the information presentation format and specific task types to affect decision accuracy and time. Two experiments were performed to examine the influence of interruptions on decision-making accuracy and time. The first experiment examined the effects of interruptions on different task types and the interaction between task type and information presentation format. The first experiment was a 2 X 2 X 4 fadorial design: work environment (no interruptions and interruptions), information presentation format (tables and graphs), and task type (simple-s ymbolic, simple-spa tial, complex-s ymbolic and complex-spatial). The second experiment examined specific dimensions of an intermption to better understand their influence on performance. The second experiment was a 2 X 2 X 2 fadorid design: intermption frequency (4 interruptions per task and 12 interruptions per task), intermption content (intermption similar to task and intermption dissimilar to task), and task type (complex-symbolic and complex-spatial). The dependent variables in both experiments were decision accuracy, decision time, and measures related to perceptions of the task and information used in the task. Interruptions were generally found to facilitate the performance of simple tasks and inhibit the performance of complex tasks. Interruptions also moderated the relationship between information presentation formats and specific task types. Finally, some evidence was found for the inhibitory effects of intermption frequency and the similarity between task and intermption content.