Mitigating the Effects of Task Switching in Baggage Screeners. (September 2021)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Zish, Kevin; Eisert, Jesse; Blanchard, Jennifer; Endres, Daniel; Band, David; Korbelak, Kristopher; McKnight, Simone; McKee, Charles
• Is Part Of: Proceedings of the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society ... Annual Meeting. Volume 65:Part 1(2021)
• Page Start: 368
• Page End: 371
• Publication Date: 2021-09
• Subjects: Human engineering -- Congresses; 620.8205
• DOI: 10.1177/1071181321651201
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 1541-9312

Abstract

Using a simulated baggage screening task, we investigated two literature-supported mitigation strategies for reducing the negative effects of task switching, namely less frequent switching and memory support. The study replicates widely reported switching effects on a complex task. The results also show that people can improve performance when provided memory support. When task switching, people can struggle to retrieve the correct task instruction due to the automatic process behind functional memory decay. Memory support reduces the negative effects of functional decay by providing people a reminder.