The effects of an Imposed performance strategy upon subjective mental workload.

Date
1990
Authors
Finucci, Helen Louise.
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Abstract
Increasingly complex technology in modarn times has changed the nature of many work activities. Hechanisation and automation have served to emphasise the importance of mental workload to productivity, physicaI and mental health. The study uses a simulated routine office stocktaking task to compare subject and experiences of mental workload between traditional pen and paper methods and the more recently developed computer techniques. An analysis is also made of assessments of difficulty by subjects free to adopt a working method of their choice (ie. in a flexible environment) and subjects whohave no freedom of working method (ie. a rigid externally imposed working strategy). Also included is an analysis of the cognitive strategies adopted during task performance and across the different treatmerrt conditions. Research findings are of particular relevance to the design of jobs in the modern office environment where human-computer interaction is becoming increasingly prevalent, the effective design of man-machine systems, and to the genera: field of workload research.
Description
A dissertation submitted to the Faculty of Arts, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, for the Degree of Master of Arts.
Keywords
Mental work., Work -- Psychological aspects., Human-computer interaction.
Citation
Collections