Newsgroups: comp.speech
From: Leon@lfheller.demon.co.uk (Leon Heller)
Path: cantaloupe.srv.cs.cmu.edu!das-news2.harvard.edu!news2.near.net!news.mathworks.com!udel!gatech!swrinde!pipex!peernews.demon.co.uk!lfheller.demon.co.uk!Leon
Subject: Re: Cognitive Load
References: <1995Jan26.141841.77002@ucl.ac.uk>
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Date: Sat, 28 Jan 1995 10:57:58 +0000
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In article <1995Jan26.141841.77002@ucl.ac.uk>
           andrew@PROBLEM_WITH_INEWS_DOMAIN_FILE "
" writes:

> I'm interested in producing cognitive load in subjects participating
> in a listening task.  It is important that the task does not involve
> the auditory modality so cannot really be monitoring another speech
> signal, nor a task which requires subvocal rehearsal or a similar
> task.
> 
> One possibility is to make subjects perform a tracking task involving
> hand-eye coordination such as tracking a moving object on screen with
> a mouse-controlled cursor.
> 
> Does anyone have experience of implementing a similar task, or have
> ideas about any potential pitfalls in this approach, or have any
> ideas on how to implement it?

Tracking tasks are one of the standard techniques for increasing cognitive
workload. A good book on this type of technique, and cognitive workload
generally, is Mental Workload, edited by Neville Moray. At least, that's what
I think it is called. We had a copy where I used to work.

So-called "unstable tracking tasks" or Jex-type tasks (after the person who
first used them for workload estimation) are often used nowadays for this
purpose. They are rather nice as it is easy to control the difficulty of the
task. Moray's book has a chapter on them. I got some students to implement
this type of task on a PC, using a mouse, as a project, and I think I've got
their software somewhere; it was written in C. The unstable tracking task
is analogous to flying an unstable aircraft, or balancing a pole, by the way.

Leon
-- 
Leon Heller                       | "Do not adjust your mind, there is
G1HSM                             |  a fault in reality": on a wall
Email: leon@lfheller.demon.co.uk  |  many years ago in Oxford.
Phone: +44 (01734) 266679         |
