Effects of Instant Messaging on Recall During Video-Mediated Briefings

Abstract

This report explores the effect of interruption from instant messaging (IM) on memory of a video-teleconference brief. A 4x2 factorial pilot study was conducted with 32 participants (gender balanced), using four levels of interruption and gender as the independent variables. Two videos were presented to participants, one of a single person speaking and one of a pair in conversation. Memory was tested with five minutes free recall after each video and recognition questionnaires 24 hours later. Analysis revealed that women performed better than men in free recall, that requiring participants to respond to questions degraded their free recall, and that interruption caused a significant downward trend in free recall performance and confidence. Recognition performance results were inconclusive, however. We recommend repeating this study with more participants. Results obtained could help advise Defence on the development of usage policies for collaboration technologies, specifically regarding limiting the types and number of sources of interaction and sensory input where possible.

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Apr 01, 2012
Accession Number
ADA566603

Entities

People

  • Derek Weber

Organizations

  • Defence Science and Technology Group

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • C4I
  • Engineered Resilient Systems
  • Human Systems

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Cognition
  • Cognitive Science
  • Cognitive Systems Engineering
  • Command And Control
  • Computer Science
  • Computers
  • Electronic Mail
  • Electronic Messaging
  • Human-Computer Interaction
  • Information Processing
  • Information Systems
  • Mobile Phones
  • Multiagent Systems
  • Network Science
  • Psychology
  • Task Performance And Analysis
  • Video Teleconferencing

Readers

  • Gender and Food Studies
  • Regression Analysis.
  • Speech Processing/Speech Recognition.