The Coffee Challenge: a new method for the study of everyday action errors.

Area of Science:

• Cognitive Science
• Neuropsychology
• Human Factors

Background:

• Everyday errors have significant consequences for individuals with mild cognitive deficits.
• Limited performance-based methods exist to study action in these populations.
• The Coffee Challenge (CC) was developed to address this gap.

Purpose of the Study:

• To validate the Coffee Challenge (CC) as a tool for studying action performance.
• To examine the effects of practice and divided attention on CC performance in healthy individuals.

Main Methods:

• Experiment 1: Healthy participants completed 10 practice trials of the CC.
• Experiment 2: CC performance was assessed under conditions of divided attention.
• Performance was measured by error rates and qualitative analysis.

Main Results:

• CC performance demonstrated routinization after 10 practice trials in Experiment 1.
• Dividing attention in Experiment 2 significantly increased errors but did not qualitatively alter performance from baseline.
• Results indicate sensitivity of the CC to cognitive load.

Conclusions:

• The Coffee Challenge (CC) is a promising new performance-based tool for assessing action in populations with cognitive impairments.
• Findings provide insights into action impairments related to cognitive deficits.
• Further research with patient populations is warranted to fully establish CC's clinical utility.