Auditory probe sensitivity to mental workload changes – an event-related potential study

Ullsperger, Peter; Freude, Gabriele; Erdmann, Udo

doi:10.1016/s0167-8760(00)00188-4

Cited by 90 publications

(91 citation statements)

References 11 publications

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“…Specifically, N1 and P3 latencies and amplitudes elicited by a secondary task have been shown to be modulated by variations in the demands of primary complex tasks. Typically, longer latencies and lower amplitudes in different components have been reported when the primary task demands increase (Kramer et al 1983;Allison and Polich 2008;Miller et al 2011;Ullsperger et al 2001). For this reason, ERPs may better account for the specific processing requirements of complex tasks compared to other measures.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Throughout the last four decades, several studies have explored the applicability of ERPs in operational tasks in laboratory settings (Allison and Polich 2008;Miller et al 2011;Ullsperger et al 2001), and to a lesser extent in ecological settings (e.g., Strayer et al 2015). In transport research, ERPs have been used to evaluate the effects of different IVIS and other concurrent tasks while performing the primary task of driving.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Event-related potentials as indices of mental workload while using an in-vehicle information system

Solís-Marcos

Kircher

2018

Cogn Tech Work

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New in-vehicle information systems are now being commercialized. Despite the expected benefits, some concerns exist that they may overload drivers' capacity and decrease performance. According to the multiple resource theory (Wickens, Hum Factors 50:449-455, https ://doi.org/10.1518/00187 2008X 28839 4, 2008, overload may occur at different stages of processing, that is, perceptual-central and/or response-related stages. Therefore, different measures may be needed to detect such specific demands. We explored the sensitivity of different mental workload measurements during the performance of an auditory task alone (single task) and in combination with a tracking task that was presented without (dual task) or, with a visual display (triple task). The demands associated with the number of concurrent tasks (single, dual and triple tasks), tracking speed (low, high, adjustable) and their interaction were analyzed. To account for different processing requirements, mental workload was assessed using subjective, behavioral (performance on the auditory task) and psychophysiological measurements (event-related potentials). 17 young adults participated in the study. The results showed that most measurements discriminated between the performances of one or more tasks, as well as between low and high speeds. However, only the subjective ratings and tracking task performance further discriminated between the dual-and triple-task conditions. Finally, ERPs (N1 and P3) were the only measure detecting increases in cognitive demands associated with higher requirements on processing speed combined with the addition of the display. Our results suggest that ERPs may provide complementary information to other traditional mental workload measures. Its applications in the evaluation and design of future systems should be investigated.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Event-related potentials as indices of mental workload while using an in-vehicle information system

Solís-Marcos

Kircher

2018

Cogn Tech Work

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“…Globally, studies on mental workload have reported that both P3 amplitude and latency are inversely related to task difficulty (Allison and Polich, 2008;Miller et al, 2011;Ullsperger et al, 2001). This inverse relationship can be interpreted as a reflection of the amount of variation of attentional resources engaged.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Assessment of mental workload: A new electrophysiological method based on intra-block averaging of ERP amplitudes

et al. 2016

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The present study contributes to the current debate about electrophysiological measurements of mental workload. Specifically, the allocation of attentional resources during different complexity levels of tasks and its changes over time are of great interest. Therefore, we investigated mental workload using tasks varying in difficulty during an auditory oddball target paradigm. For data analysis, we applied a novel method to compute event-related potentials (ERPs) by intra-block epoch averaging of P2, P3a and P3b amplitude components for the infrequent target stimuli. We obtained eight consecutive blocks of 5 epochs each, which allowed us to develop an electrophysiological parameter to measure mental workload. In both the easy and the more constraining tasks, the amplitude of P2 decreased beginning with the second block of the sequence. In contrast, the amplitudes of P3a and P3b components linearly decreased following the repetition of the target in the more constraining task, but not in the easy task. Statistical analysis revealed intra-block differences on amplitudes of ERPs of interest between the easy and the more constraining tasks, confirming this method as a measure to assess mental workload. Since a subject is his own control, the present method represents an electrophysiological parameter for individual measurement of mental workload and may therefore be applicable in clinical routine.

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“…This technique involves recording of physiological measures (such as event-related potentials), in which, unlike in the dual-task paradigm, the participant has to ignore the probes. Several authors have noted that attention not focused elsewhere is attracted to the probes, even if the participant does not pay attention directly to them (Kramer, Trejo, & Humphrey, 1995;Ullsperger, Freude, & Erdmann, 2001).…”

Section: A Case Study Of Puzzle Solvingmentioning

confidence: 99%

The use of Tholos software for combining measures of mental workload: Toward theoretical and methodological improvements

Cegarra

Chevalier

2008

Behavior Research Methods

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Auditory probe sensitivity to mental workload changes – an event-related potential study

Cited by 90 publications

References 11 publications

Event-related potentials as indices of mental workload while using an in-vehicle information system

Event-related potentials as indices of mental workload while using an in-vehicle information system

Assessment of mental workload: A new electrophysiological method based on intra-block averaging of ERP amplitudes

The use of Tholos software for combining measures of mental workload: Toward theoretical and methodological improvements

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