External Task Demands Research Articles

Community pharmacists’ subjective workload and perceived task performance: A human factors approach

ObjectiveTo measure the association of three categories of community pharmacists’ subjective workload with perceived performance in pharmacists’ tasks. DesignCross-sectional descriptive study. SettingWisconsin, September 2009. Participants224 Wisconsin community pharmacists. InterventionWeb-based or mailed survey. Main outcome measuresSelf-reported workload in task-, job-, and organization-related categories and their association with perceived performance on completing a profile review, checking the accuracy of a prescription, and providing a patient consultation for a new medication. ResultsMultivariate regression analysis showed that performing a profile review was positively associated with monitoring demands (reacting quickly to prevent problems) and significantly negatively associated with external task demands (interruptions, rushing). The task of verifying prescription accuracy was positively associated with monitoring demands and negatively associated with volume demands (having enough time to get work done). Patient consultation performance was positively associated with cognitive (using skills and knowledge) and monitoring demands and negatively associated with external demands. ConclusionThese findings revealed the importance of measuring workload demands after separating the demands into categories and that different work demands are associated with performance of different tasks. As a result, no one solution will improve performance, and specific work environments must be considered when crafting solutions.

Factors affecting numerical typing performance of young adults in a hear-and-type task

Numerical hear-and-type tasks, i.e. making immediate keypresses according to verbally presented numbers, possess both practical and theoretical importance but received relatively little attention. Effects of speech rates (500-ms vs. 1000-ms interval), urgency (urgent condition: performance-based monetary incentive plus time limit vs. non-urgent condition: flat-rate compensation) and finger strategies (single vs. multi-finger typing) on typing speed and accuracy were investigated. Fast speech rate and multi-finger typing produced more errors and slower typing speed. Urgency improved typing speed but decreased accuracy. Errors were almost doubled under urgent condition, while urgency effect on speed was similar to that of speech rate. Examination of error patterns did not fully support Salthouse's (1986) speculations about error-making mechanisms. The results implied that urgency could play a more important role in error-making than task demands. Numerical keyboard design and error detection could benefit from spatial incidence of errors found in this study. Statement of Relevance: This study revealed that classic speculations about error-making mechanisms in alphabetical typing do not necessarily translate to numerical typing. Factors other than external task demands such as urgency can affect typing performance to a similar or greater extent. Investigations of intrinsic error-making factors in non-traditional typing tasks are encouraged.

Is adaptation to task complexity really beneficial for performance?

Theories of self-regulated learning assume that learners flexibly adapt their learning process to external task demands and that this is positively related to performance. In this study, university students (n = 119) solved three tasks that greatly differed in complexity. Their learning processes were captured in detail by task-specific questionnaires and computer-generated log files. Results indicate that students adapted almost all learning processes significantly to task complexity. For example, students accessed more hypertext pages for complex tasks than for simple tasks. However, this kind of adaptation was not consistently related to performance. For variables capturing learners’ self-regulation, such as the number of accessed hypertext pages, more pronounced adaptation was significantly and positively related to performance even when learners’ general processing depth was statistically controlled. Results were less consistent for variables capturing learners’ self-monitoring, such as their judged task complexity.

Performance of Skilled Typists as a Function of Pacing, Response Complexity and Urgency in Numerical Hear-and-type Tasks

Performance of skilled typists in numerical hear-and-type tasks, i.e. making immediate keypresses in response to verbally presented numbers, has practical and theoretical importance because it help understand perceptual-motor skills and error mechanisms. Effects of speech rates (500ms vs. 1000ms interval), urgency (elicited by monetary rewards) and finger strategies (single vs. multi-finger typing) on typing speed and accuracy were investigated. Fast speech rate and multi-finger typing degraded both typing speed and accuracy, while urgency improved typing speed at the expense of decreasing accuracy. Errors were almost doubled under urgent condition while urgency effect on speed was similar to that of speech rate. The results implied that common beliefs of fast speech and multi-finger typing being incentive to typing performance might not be true, and internalized urgency could play a more important role in error-making than external task demands.

More evidence on size modification in spatial axes systems of varying complexity

Pictorial space can be conceptualized as aggregate space (where figures compete for limited available space) or as axial space (where space is infinite and exists independently of figures). That these two kinds of space concepts follow a developmental sequence was tested by investigating size regulation mechanisms in 7- to 12-year-old children’s figure drawings. An earlier longitudinal study had shown that the more figures were drawn and the more complex the spatial axes system, the smaller the figures. Two studies confirmed that object-driven size reduction was the size regulation mechanism in younger children, whereas axes-driven size reduction was the only factor regulating figure size in 12-year-old children. Size reduction occurred in a gradual fashion in younger children, whereas size reduction was more pronounced in crossed axes systems in older children. In addition, 7-year-old children showed a dynamic and fluid interaction between internal and external task demands for size regulation.

More evidence on size modification in spatial axes systems of varying complexity

Pictorial space can be conceptualized as aggregate space (where figures compete for limited available space) or as axial space (where space is infinite and exists independently of figures). That these two kinds of space concepts follow a developmental sequence was tested by investigating size regulation mechanisms in 7- to 12-year-old children’s figure drawings. An earlier longitudinal study had shown that the more figures were drawn and the more complex the spatial axes system, the smaller the figures. Two studies confirmed that object-driven size reduction was the size regulation mechanism in younger children, whereas axes-driven size reduction was the only factor regulating figure size in 12-year-old children. Size reduction occurred in a gradual fashion in younger children, whereas size reduction was more pronounced in crossed axes systems in older children. In addition, 7-year-old children showed a dynamic and fluid interaction between internal and external task demands for size regulation.