Employees\u27 cognitive load and performance during multitasking use of Information Technology

Multitasking-based use of Information Technology, a term that we label MUIT, to accomplish work-related tasks has become a common behavior for employees in organizations. Despite this reality, most research to date has focused on studying either the use of one IT at a time or multi-tasking behaviors in experimental laboratory settings. As a result, this study aims to fill these gaps. Building upon cognitive load theory and multiple resource theory, this paper theorizes that MUIT positively influences cognitive load, which in turn, has a curvilinear (concave, in-verted U) relation with performance. In order to test our hypotheses, we employed the Experi-ence Sampling Method (ESM), a special form of diary study, to gather data on employees at multiple occasions for two weeks. The collected data are hierarchical (multiple observations within individuals), and thus, we employed multi-level regression to test the hypotheses. Results show, as hypothesized, a positive relation between MUIT and cognitive load, and an inverted U relation between cognitive load and performance. Therefore, this study demonstrates that in work settings although MUIT increases cognitive load, cognitive load is not always detrimental: some cognitive load has positive effects on performance until it reaches a tipping point where performance starts to suffer

Can I Have Your Attention? Implications of the Research on Distractions and Multitasking for Reference Librarians

The media have identified the last decade as “the age of distraction.” People today find it harder to work on long, sustained tasks because distractions are eroding their attention span, fostering a culture of discontinuity. Fields as diverse as psychology, business, education, human-computer interaction, and communication studies have produced a wealth of studies on interruptions, distractions, and multitasking–research that has important implications for reference librarians. The nature of our jobs invites interruptions by the public, requires familiarity with the latest technology, stimulates curiosity about a broad range of subjects, and demands adeptness at multitasking–all factors which can atomize attention

The influence of digital distraction on cognitive load, attention conflict and meeting productivity

Background Meetings are important for organisational functioning and the co-ordination of people, tasks and processes, and an everyday reality of organisational life. As mobile communication technology, such as smart phones, tablets and laptops gets smaller and more powerful, these devices have become more pervasive in every aspect of personal and work life. Increasingly, organisations allow mobile devices to be used during meetings in an effort to be more efficient and save time. However, for a meeting to achieve the desired meeting outcomes, those that participate in the meeting need be actively engaged and focused. It is widely accepted though that mobile communication technology is distracting and can easily draw away one’s focus. This begs the question then as to whether employees should in fact be able to use mobile devices in meetings, or not. Rationale for the research study Research into the effect of mobile communication technology as a source of digital distraction on meeting performance, given individual differences in cognitive processing, is limited. Moreover, no experimental studies could be found that have investigated these relationships. It is hoped that the results of the present study will address the gap that was identified in the literature, as well as provide a useful practical contribution for organisations. The findings of the present study may further be used to inform organisation policy and practice concerning the use of mobile communication technology in meetings. Aim of the research study The aim of the present study was to investigate if the presence of digital distraction in meetings, i.e. the presence of mobile communication technology or mobile devices significantly negatively influences selected cognitive processes (i.e. cognitive load and attention conflict) and ultimately meeting performance (assessed as the time it takes to make a decision; as well as the number and quality of decisions made). Research design and method A two-group post-test only, quasi-experimental research method was utilised to investigate the causal effect of the presence of digital distraction on selected aspects of cognitive processing and meeting performance. For an experiment to be valid, no systematic bias should exist in the comparison groups before the manipulation or intervention, otherwise, one would not be able to deduce that any difference that is observed after the manipulation or intervention was due to the manipulation or intervention. Therefore, to ensure that two equivalent treatment groups were available, individuals were randomly assigned to two meetings. The composition of the two groups was then assessed using the demographic variables that were collected and were not found to be significantly different from one another. The average level concentration performance or attentiveness was also measured and not found to be significantly different. This suggests that the average level of distractibility was the same for the two groups. Two equivalent meetings were held with only the availability of mobile communication technology being different between the meetings (i.e. mobile devices were present and used during the meeting or not). After the meetings were concluded, respondents were asked to complete an online questionnaire that consisted of closed- and openended questions designed to measure the concentration performance, cognitive load and attention conflict constructs. Meeting performance was further evaluated by two independent subject matter experts using a decision-rating scale. Sampling and sample As meetings in organisations was the focus, the study targeted employed individuals, a convenient sample of employees were obtained (n=15) that were randomly assigned to one of two participant groups in two separate meetings. Results The inferential data analyses revealed that cognitive load and attention conflict were both statistically significantly higher in the meeting in which the use of mobile devices were available and used, compared to the meeting in which mobile devices were not present. Moreover, it was found that meeting performance was lower in the meetingwhere mobile communication technology was present. The members of the two meetings made a similar number of decisions, which the independent assessors rated as being of similar quality, however, the group in which mobile communication technology was available took 30 per cent longer (120 versus 90 mins) to come to a similar outcome. Findings The results of the present research study suggest that the presence of digital distraction placed significant (additional) demands on the cognitive processing of individuals, who in meetings are required to fulfil cognitive decision-making tasks. As a direct or indirect result, the presence of digital distractions had a marked negative impact on meeting performance and productivity. Based on the findings, it is argued that restricting digital distractions in meetings can greatly reduce the time spent in meetings, while still achieving desired meetings outcomes. Meetings are essential to effective organisational management and coordination but are also resource intensive with managers spending substantial amounts of their available work time in meetings. Organisations operating in resource constrained environments need to be increasingly efficient in their use of scarce resources and, arguably, time is the most precious resource of all. Managerial Implications Based on the findings of the present study, it is recommended that unless mobile communication devices are required to achieve meeting outcomes, managers should declare meetings as technology free zones. Doing so may lead to shorter more productive meetings giving those that often attend meetings more time to attend to other matters

Distraction or Connection? An Investigation of Social Media Use at Work

The use of social media in the workplace is controversial. In order to develop a good understanding of social media use at work, this study examines the effects of social media use from both positive and negative sides. Based on two-factor theory, this study proposes that social media use at work engenders distraction and perceived relatedness, which in turn influence job performance. This study further draws on resource matching theory to posit that the perceptual load of the job moderates the effects of social media use at work on distraction and perceived relatedness. A survey will be conducted to collect data and test the research hypotheses. In theoretical terms, this study is expected to contribute to information systems research by investigating both positive and negative outcomes of social media usage. In practical terms, this study sheds light on the usage and management of social media in the workplace

An Empirical Study Comparing Unobtrusive Physiological Sensors for Stress Detection in Computer Work.

Several unobtrusive sensors have been tested in studies to capture physiological reactions to stress in workplace settings. Lab studies tend to focus on assessing sensors during a specific computer task, while in situ studies tend to offer a generalized view of sensors' efficacy for workplace stress monitoring, without discriminating different tasks. Given the variation in workplace computer activities, this study investigates the efficacy of unobtrusive sensors for stress measurement across a variety of tasks. We present a comparison of five physiological measurements obtained in a lab experiment, where participants completed six different computer tasks, while we measured their stress levels using a chest-band (ECG, respiration), a wristband (PPG and EDA), and an emerging thermal imaging method (perinasal perspiration). We found that thermal imaging can detect increased stress for most participants across all tasks, while wrist and chest sensors were less generalizable across tasks and participants. We summarize the costs and benefits of each sensor stream, and show how some computer use scenarios present usability and reliability challenges for stress monitoring with certain physiological sensors. We provide recommendations for researchers and system builders for measuring stress with physiological sensors during workplace computer use

The Link Between Cognitive Strain and Ability to Perform Well in the Knowledge Work

Working life has changed quite rapidly from manual work to knowledge work in the past decades. Due to the transition, companies are facing new kinds of challenges what comes to overall employee wellbeing. From the working ergonomics point of view the focus should be widened from the physical working ergonomics perspective also to cover the cognitive ergonomics, which is the most effective aspect of ergonomics for the knowledge workers, in a knowledge-intensive organizations. And as talking about the knowledge work, the cognitive strain has impacts on the working performance of knowledge workers. In this research, the goal is to build the link between the cognitive strain, and ability to perform well in the knowledge work. The study also aims to research cognitive ergonomics and how it could help in mitigating cognitive strain and enable knowledge workers to perform well. The cognitive strain has been observed via various factors of interruptions, disruptions, and information overload. Knowledge work performance has been defined based on the sources in the theory background as well as from the case company defined performance factors. The study findings show that the cognitive strain has an impact on the employee’s performance based on their own evaluation. The information overload was experienced as the most challenging, interruptions as secondly, and disruptions as the least severe source of cognitive strain. Also, cognitive ergonomics is seen as an interesting, but not so well-known topic among the interviewee respondents. The employees had built their own routines to mitigate the cognitive strain, but organizational-wide guidelines, for example for the remote work, would be appreciated by the interview respondents. The study contains solid theoretical background of the topic and extensive interview results, which leads to the discussions about the potential solutions to developing the cognitive ergonomics in the organization as well as suggestions for the future research identified during the study.Työelämän muutos manuaalisesta työstä kohti tietotyöyhteiskuntaa on ollut nopeaa viime vuosikymmeninä. Nopean muutoksen vuoksi yritykset kohtaavat uudenlaisia haasteita työntekijöiden hyvinvointiin liittyen. Kokonaisvaltaisen työergonomian näkökulmasta tarkastelukulmaa olisi syytä laajentaa fyysisen ergonomian huomioimisesta myös kognitiivisen ergonomiaan, mikä on tärkeintä tietotyöntekijöille, jotka työskentelevät osaamisintensiivisissä organisaatioissa. Tietotyön kontekstissa kognitiivisella kuormituksella on vaikutuksia työntekijöiden työssä suoriutumiseen. Tässä Pro Gradu -tutkielmassa tavoitteena on yhdistää tietoa kognitiivisesta kuormituksesta sekä hyvästä suoriutumisesta tietotyössä. Tutkielma pyrkii myös selvittämään kognitiivisen ergonomian keinoja auttaa vähentämään kognitiivista kuormitusta ja edesauttaa tietotyöntekijöitä suoriutumaan hyvin työssään. Tutkielmassa kognitiivista kuormitusta on tarkasteltu keskeytysten, häiriötekijöiden ja tietotulvan eri konkreettisten ilmenemismuotojen kautta. Tietotyössä suoriutumisen määritelmä on tehty teoriataustassa käytettyjen lähteiden, sekä case-yritykselle toteutettujen haastattelujen vastausten perusteella. Tutkielman tulokset osoittavat, että haastateltujen tietotyöntekijöiden arvioiden mukaan kognitiivisella kuormituksella on vaikutusta työntekijöiden työssä suoriutumiseen. Haastateltavien keskuudessa tietotulva koettiin kaikkein ongelmallisimmaksi, keskeytykset toiseksi, ja häiriötekijät vähiten ongelmalliseksi kognitiivisen kuormituksen ilmenemismuodoksi. Kognitiivisen ergonomian käsite koettiin myös hyvin kiinnostavaksi haastateltavien keskuudessa, vaikka aihepiiri ei ollut entuudestaan tuttu. Haastateltavat tietotyöntekijät olivat rakentaneet omia rutiineita kognitiivisen kuormituksen ehkäisemiseksi, mutta koko organisaation kattava ohjeistus, esimerkiksi etätyöhön, olisi tervetullut haastateltavien näkökulmasta. Tutkielma koostuu teoriataustasta ja laajasta haastattelumateriaalista tuloksineen, joka johtaa pohdintaan mahdollisista ratkaisumalleista, joilla kehittää kognitiivsen ergonomian tasoa organisaatiossa. Tutkielman lopuksi on vielä jatkotutkimusehdotuksia, joita on tunnistettu tutkimusta tehdessä

Doing many things at a time: lack of power decreases the ability to multitask

Three studies investigated the effects of power on the ability to pursue multiple, concomitant goals, also known as multitasking. It was predicted that powerless participants will show lower multitasking ability than control and powerful participants. Study 1 focused on self‐reported ability to multitask in a sample of executives and subordinate employees. Studies 2 and 3 investigated the ability to dual‐task and to switch between tasks, respectively, using dual‐task and task‐switching paradigms. Across the studies, powerless individuals were less able to effectively multitask compared with control and powerful participants, suggesting that the detrimental effects of lack of power extend beyond single‐task environments, shown in past research, into multitasking environments. Underlying mechanisms are discussed

Information, Technology and Information Worker Productivity

We study the fine-grained relationships among information flows, IT use, and individual information-worker productivity, by analyzing work at a midsize executive recruiting firm. We analyze both project-level and individual-level performance using: (1) direct observation of over 125,000 e-mail messages over a period of 10 months by individual workers (2) detailed accounting data on revenues, compensation, project completion rates, and team membership for over 1300 projects spanning 5 years, and (3) survey data on a matched set of the same workers’ IT skills, IT use and information sharing. These detailed data permit us to econometrically evaluate a multistage model of production and interaction activities at the firm, and to analyze the relationships among communications flows, key technologies, work practices, and output. We find that (a) the structure and size of workers’ communication networks are highly correlated with their performance; (b) IT use is strongly correlated with productivity but mainly by allowing multitasking rather than by speeding up work; (c) productivity is greatest for small amounts of multitasking but beyond an optimum, multitasking is associated with declining project completion rates and revenue generation; and (d) asynchronous information seeking such as email and database use promotes multitasking while synchronous information seeking over the phone shows a negative correlation. Overall, these data show statistically significant relationships among social networks, technology use, completed projects, and revenues for project-based information workers. Results are consistent with simple production models of queuing and multitasking and these methods can be replicated in other settings, suggesting new frontiers for bridging the research on social networks and IT value.NYU, Stern School of Business, IOMS Department, Center for Digital Economy Researc

Technology Mediated Interruptions: Attention Analysis and Impact on Task Performance

Information systems that provide easier access to information and enhanced communication channels to help manage these tasks (e.g. through emails, instant messages, and calls via mobile devices) can cause workers to temporarily lose focus on his or her current activity (defined as interruptions) (O’Conaill and Frohlich, 1995). Even though some research has concentrated on explaining the effects of interruptions (Speier, Valacich, & Vessey, 1999; Gillie and Broadbent, 1989; Cellier & Eyrolle, 1992), they fall short of explaining the complex set of relationships that help us understand how and why an individual attends to new tasks, and how this task fragmentation and taskswitching process influences performance. The purpose of this dissertation is to explain the effect of TMI and taskswitching on performance using the Stimulus Value Role Model (Murstein, 1970) as a theoretical basis and to use working memory to investigate how task-switching and task-fragmentation influence task performance. Controlled laboratory experiments will be conducted to test the hypotheses