Timecourse of Recovery from Task Interruption: Data and a Model (Preprint)

Abstract

Interruption of a complex cognitive task can entail, for the "interuptee", a sense of having to recover afterwards. We examined this recovery process by measuring the timecourse of responses following an interruption, sampling over 13,000 interruptions to obtain stable data. Response times dropped in a smooth curvilinear pattern for the first 10 responses (15 sec or so) of post-interruption performance. We explain this pattern in terms of the cognitive system retrieving a displaced mental context from memory incrementally, with each retrieved element adding to the set of primes facilitating the next retrieval. The model explains a learning effect in our data in which the timecourse of recovery changes over blocks, and is generally consistent with current representational theories of expertise.

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Nov 01, 2006
Accession Number
ADA480013

Entities

People

  • Erik M. Altmann
  • J. G. Trafton

Organizations

  • Michigan State University

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Cyber

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Analysis Of Variance
  • Artificial Intelligence
  • Cognitive Science
  • Cognitive Systems Engineering
  • Cognitive Workload
  • Computers
  • Environment
  • Human-Computer Interaction
  • Intervals
  • Learning
  • Mental Processes
  • Military Research
  • New York
  • Perception
  • Psychology
  • Recovery
  • Situational Awareness

Readers

  • Artificial Intelligence
  • Brain and Cognitive Science; Experimental Psychology; Cognitive Neuroscience