Lecture 7: Workload, Fatigue, Emotion, and Distraction

Question 1

What is arousal level?

Answer 1

an individual’s degree of alertness or responsiveness to stimuli

Question 2

What is Yerkes-Dodson Law?

Answer 2

shows the relation between level of arousal (induced by stress) and performance. The optimal level of arousal is higher for simple tasks.

Question 3

What are the types of metal states?

Answer 3

workload, fatigue, emotions, and distractions

Question 4

What is mental workload?

Answer 4

amount of mental work or effort necessary to perform a a task

Question 5

What factors influence mental workload?

Answer 5

task demands (number of tasks, required accuracy, time)
environmental conditions (high noise)
individual operator characteristics

Question 6

What is the primary measure of workload?

Answer 6

performance

Question 7

What is the secondary measure of workload?

Answer 7

assessing residual resources to complete a secondary task

Question 8

What are some physiological measures of mental workload?

Answer 8

pupil dilation: bigger
fixate duration: longer
heart rate: higher
heart rate variability: smaller

Question 9

What is sleep related fatigue?

Answer 9

violation of natural circadian rhythm that causes fatigue

Question 10

What is passive fatigue?

Answer 10

caused by tasks in a monotonous environment with an underload mental condition, such as in highly automated systems

Question 11

What is active fatigue?

Answer 11

induced by high demand situations with constant maneuvers

Question 12

What are some physiological measures of mental workload?

Answer 12

PERCLOS: eyelid 80% closed
blink rate: higher
blink duration: longer

Question 13

What is a subjective measure of fatigue?

Answer 13

Karolinska Sleepiness Scale

Question 14

What are the two dimensions of emotion?

Answer 14

valence and arousal
the combination of these two give discrete emotions

Question 15

What is a subjective measure of emotion?

Answer 15

the self-assessment manikin SAM

Question 16

What is an external distraction?

Answer 16

distracted by secondary tasks when performing primary task

Question 17

What is an internal distraction?

Answer 17

mind wandering or day dreaming, a shift of one’s attention from the external world to internal thought processes

Question 18

What are physiological measures of mind-wandering?

Answer 18

pupil dilation: longer
fixation duration: longer
skin conductance response

Question 19

What are two methods for measuring mind wandering?

Answer 19

probe-caught method: involves stopping participants during a task and asking them where their attention is directed
self-caught method: participants voluntarily indicate, at any moment in time during a task, when their attention has shifted away from that task