The effect of secondary task load on visual sampling behaviour

1 June 1994

journal article
research article
Published by Taylor & Francis in Ergonomics

Vol. 37 (6) , 1089-1096
https://doi.org/10.1080/00140139408963720

Abstract

This paper investigates a dual-task experiment, which looked at whether periodical sampling (Senders 1983) of relatively fast changing instruments results from an imperfect internal representation of these instruments, or whether it merely represents a strategy adopted by the observer to overcome overload situations. Subjects either monitored a fast or a slow instrument in combination with a difficult, easy or no tracking task. The results indicated that sampling behaviour was generally unaffected by the external load imposed by the tracking task, suggesting that periodical sampling results from an imperfect internal representation and is not the result of a strategic decision of the observer to overcome overload.

Keywords

This publication has 1 reference indexed in Scilit:

The Human Operator as a Monitor and Controller of Multidegree of Freedom Systems
IEEE Transactions on Human Factors in Electronics, 1964