Effects of Concurrent Cognitive Task Loading on Warning Compliance Behavior
نویسندگان
چکیده
This research examined whether increased cognitive task loading decreases warning compliance behavior. Participants performed a task in which they installed an external disk drive to a computer. Inside the accompanying owner's manual were a set of specific procedures that were to be followed during the installation to avoid damaging the equipment (i.e., to turn off the computer, to touch the computer's rear metal connector to discharge static electricity, and to eject a transport disk from the disk drive). Concurrent with this task, participants in the low and high task load conditions had to speak the answers to a series of single-digit or double-digit addition problems that were presented by a tape player. A control condition lacked the addition task. The results showed reduced compliance to the discharge static electricity instruction in the high load condition compared to the no load condition. The low load condition produced intermediate compliance, but was not significantly different from the other two conditions with one \ exception: the high load condition produced significantly lower compliance for the discharge static electricity instruction than the low load condition. These results suggest hat warning effectiveness can be reduced when the mental resources necessary to carry out compliance are being absorbed by other concurrently performed tasks. Implications for further research on task loading and warning compliance are described. INTRODUCTION instruction (Racicot & Wogalter, 1995), and time stress (Wogalter, Magurno, Rash, & Klein, 1998). Over the past 15 years, warning research has identified numerous factors that can influence the effectiveness of safety Another external factor that may influence the warning's communications. Most of the factors have concerned aspects effectiveness is task load. Generically, task load refers to the that are internal to the design of warnings (e.g., signal word, number of activities that an individual may be performing at a color, and font size). Research has shown that when warnings particular time. Some research and theory indicates that there lack certain design characteristics, measures of effectiveness is a single limited pool of mental resources that is distributed tend to decrease. Clearly the influence of these internal to different activities (e.g., Kahneman, 1973). Tasks can be warning factors have implications for the composition of performed if there are adequate resources available for their warning signs, labels, and product related documentation. enactment. Sometimes a single task (such as one that is less practiced) will overload the individual's limited capacity Warning effectiveness is also influenced by factors that resulting task performance is less than perfect. Other theory are external to the design of a specific warning. These can and research (e.g.,Wickens, 1972) suggests that there are include person-related factors such as user familiarity and multiple pools of limited resources. In these models, two tasks experience, time stress, and gender. External factors also will only interfere if they use the same resources and those include environmental-related effects such as weather resources are insufficient to carry out the tasks concurrently. conditions and the behavior of other people. While there have However, tasks that do not use the same resources will not been numerous studies concerned with the facilitating and interfere with each other. restraining influences of various internal characteristics of warnings, there have been surprisingly few studies that have Over the past 25 years, numerous studies have been examined the influence of external factors on behavioral carried out by researchers demonstrating various kinds of compliance. Studies that have examined external influences interference in task performance using the primary-secondary on compliance behavior have shown effects of a cluttered task technique. In this method, two tasks are performed context (Wogalter, Kalsher, & Racicot, 1993), social concurrently, one being labeled the more important or primary influence (Wogalter, Allison, & McKenna, 1989), video task, and the other, the less important or secondary task. Interference is measured in term of performance decrements in 526 PROCEEDINGS of the HUMAN FACTORS AND ERGONOMICS SOCIETY 43rd ANNUAL MEETING-1999 one or both of the tasks. Generally, the more difficult the males and 21 females. Four did not indicate gender. Mean tasks (and according to the multiple resources model, the age was 19.25 years, SD = 1.8. Racial composition was 75% more similar the resources used) the greater the interference. white, 15% black, 2% Asian, 2% Hispanic, and 6% other. Difficulty is sometimes manipulated by influencing the rate of information that must be processed, producing greater Apparatus and Materials cognitive load. A large body of literature currently exists on the effects of task loading with respect to the performance of An Apple Macintosh computer, a Fujitsu 800 KB external pilots, automobile drivers, and nuclear power plant operators. disk drive with its owner's manual, packing materials In the warnings literature, some authors have speculated that (protective bubble wrap and cardboard box), and a cassette increased task loading may have a detrimental effects on tape player were used. The relevant installation instructions warning effectiveness (e.g., Lehto & Miller, 1986; Rousseau, appeared on the sixth and seventh pages of the owner's Lamson, & Rogers, 1998). However, there has been no study manual. These pages showed in picture and text form the that has shown effects of task load with respect to warnings. three procedures that were to be performed so that the external There is one earlier study in the literature that has examined disk drive could be installed without damaging the equipment. the effect of task load with respect to warning effectiveness. Duffy, Kalsher, and Wogalter (1995) had participants attach In the low and high task load conditions, two l5-min. several pieces of video equipment. In the task loading cassette tapes with a series of either single digit or double digit conditions, participants were also given another task to addition problems were used. For both recordings the addition perform, whereas in the control condition this extra task was problems were spoken by a female every 15 s. The materials absent. No significant difference in compliance to a warning also included a questionnaire asking demographic information attached to an extension cord was found. However, Duffy et (e.g., age, sex), a questionnaire asking participants their al. (1995) noted that participants tended to perform the tasks experience installing electronic equipment (computers, video, in a serial order, rather than concurrently, and this might be a and high fidelity sound systems), and a sheet that the poss~ble reason no difference was found for task load in that experimenter used to record the participants' behavior. experiment. Procedure The present experiment examines the effect of cognitive task load in a situation where two tasks are performed The computer disk drive installation procedures employed concurrently. The primary task that participants performed in this study were similar to the procedures described in was to correctly install an external disk drive by taking it out Wogalter, Barlow, and Murphy (1995) and Conzola and of a box and connecting it to a computer. In the task load Wogalter (1999). The basic method is briefly described conditions, participants were given an extra task to perform below. For additional detail see the two above named concurrently with the disk drive installation procedure. references. Human information processing theorists have suggested that high levels of workload can negatively affect performance on Participants were tested individually. Upon arrival, they a primary task (e.g., Wickens, 1992). Greater task loading first entered a small closed-off area separated by upright office produced by a high load secondary task could degrade panels. This area contained only the computer (which was performance on a primary task. Similar effects might be turned on), and a box (containing an external computer disk expected for warning-related behaviors with higher levels of drive surrounded by bubble wrap). The experimenter gave secondary task load producing lower levels of compliance. oral instructions describing the task. Participants were told that they would be performing in an engineering psychology The present experiment examined the influence of study that is evaluating the ease of use of various high-tech increasing task load (no load, low load, and high load addition consumer products including video cassette recorders (VCRs), problems) on the performance of a computer disk drive music systems, and computers. (However, this was partially a installation task. To perform the installation task correctly, ruse, because all participants in the study performed the disk the accompanying disk drive owner's manual instructs that drive installation task.) Participants were told that they were three steps be carried out before the drive is connected to the to assume that they received delivery of a computer disk drive computer in order to prevent damage to the equipment. and they needed to install the drive in order to do a disk-todisk copying task. In the two task load conditions, participants were to say aloud the answers to the math problems within the METHOD allocated time frames of 15 s each while simultaneously installing the disk drive to the computer. Participants were Participants told to do best that they could with the math problems (the secondary task), but to focus mainly on the disk drive Forty-eight North Carolina State University installation task (the primary task). The experimenter did not undergraduates participated for research credit in their provide any assistance to the participant after the initial introductory psychology courses. The sample included 23 instructions were given. The participant was instructed to give
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تاریخ انتشار 2011