Response Strategies And Individual Differences In Multiple Task Performance

Response Strategies and Individual Differences in Multiple-Task Performance

Three experiments examining individual differences in multiple-task performance are presented. Experiment I examined whether the response strategies used to perform two discrete information processing tasks reflected individual differences in information processing at high levels of workload or simply were selected at random. Each subject's response strategy first was identified as either a simultaneous, an alternating, or a massed strategy. Then some of the subjects were asked to change strategy. The results indicated that the massed response strategy subjects had less well developed timesharing skills and were not able to process information under multiple-task conditions as well as the other subjects regardless of the response strategy used. The results were interpreted as evidence that response strategies represent fundamental differences in multiple-task information processing. Experiments II and III attempted to locate the source of the differences observed in Experiment I. Experiment II examined the relation between multiple-task performance in two different task combinations and cerebral lateralizatoin, multiple-limb coordination, and four tests of cognitive style. No significant relations were found.

Multiple Task Performance

This book deals with theories of multiple-task performance and focuses on learning and performance. It is primarily for professionals in human factors, psychology, or engineering who are interested in multiple-task performance but have no formal training in the area.

AFOSR Technical Report Summaries