Developing work environment and processes in laboratories

vokMyynti MTT/VAKOLA puh. (09) 224 251Developing work environment and processes in laboratories; Utveckling av arbetsmiljön och verksamheten i laboratorie

Tracking the Identity of Moving Words: Stimulus Complexity and Familiarity Affects Tracking Accuracy

In two experiments, participants tracked the identity and location of moving words. The task bears resemblance to one performed by air traffic controllers who track multiple moving aircraft, where they are identified with relatively complex alphanumeric call signs. In Experiment 1, stimulus familiarity was manipulated by comparing the tracking of familiar words and pseudowords. In Experiment 2, also stimulus complexity was varied by having the participants track short and long words. Stimulus complexity affected tracking: short words were easier to track than long words. Moreover, familiarity of identity affected tracking of short words (short familiar words were easier to track than short pseudo‐words) but not of long words. The results are interpreted within the framework of the MOMIT model. Mathematical simulations suggest that observers may not have enough time for full identification of complex identities in a dynamic situation. Practical implications of the results for air traffic control are discussed.</p

Production line real time near infrared (NIR) monitoring

Peer reviewe

Attention control in a demanding dynamic time-sharing environment: An eye-tracking study

In this study, we examined different models of cognitive control in dynamic time-sharing situations. We investigated attentional allocation by registering participants’ eye movements while they performed a new time-sharing task that forced them to solve resource conflicts between subtasks through prioritization. Participants were monitoring four subtasks each requiring different amounts of visual attention and response frequencies. Participants’ attention allocation was operationalized in terms of the time spent dwelling on subtasks, the rate they visually sampled the tasks, and the duration of dwells. Additionally, the accuracy of responses and efficiency of time-sharing were estimated. In Experiment 1, we studied adaptation to a time-sharing environment in which priority order of the subtasks was kept constant from trial to trial. We found that the participants sampled the most important subtasks more frequently, spent more time on them, and shifted their gaze earlier to them than to less important subtasks. That is, they allocated their attention according to the subtask priorities. In Experiment 2, subtask priorities changed from trial to trial. Despite the higher demands of the constantly changing situation, participants again adapted to the varying priorities of the subtasks almost instantly. Our results suggest that performance in complex and dynamic time-sharing situations is not managed by a system relying on liberal resource allocation policies and gradual learning. Instead, the participants’ rapid adaptation is more consistent with tighter executive and authoritative control and intelligent use of prioritization information.</p