The Effect of Task Set Instruction on Detection Response Task Performance

Detection response tasks (DRTs) have been suggested as a way to measure online levels of cognitive workload. DRTs have been used in various applied settings under different task instructions. Especially in situations where multiple tasks are performed simultaneously (e.g. a driver operating a vehicle and using a navigation device), how someone allocates attention and other cognitive resources is also based on the given task instruction. Task instruction is important and can affect the strategy one takes on to complete a task, affecting the metric used to gauge task performance (e.g. reaction times). This, of course, can affect the results and the conclusions drawn based on these results; which, in an applicative setting, has reallife outcomes (e.g. law making, car manufacturers, etc.). As the DRT method is in the process of being standardized, the effect of various instruction types on task performance is to be investigated. The present paper reports on a between-group study where participants performed a triple-task scenario, involving a simulated driving task, under four different instructions. No difference in mean DRT RTs was found according to task instruction, suggesting that the complexity of a triple-task condition subjugates any influence that different task instructions could have on the performance metric.     «

Detection response tasks (DRTs) have been suggested as a way to measure online levels of cognitive workload. DRTs have been used in various applied settings under different task instructions. Especially in situations where multiple tasks are performed simultaneously (e.g. a driver operating a vehicle and using a navigation device), how someone allocates attention and other cognitive resources is also based on the given task instruction. Task instruction is important and can affect the strategy o...     »