Improving the effectiveness of an interruption lag by inducing a memory-based strategy.

Area of Science:

• Cognitive Psychology
• Human-Computer Interaction
• Memory Research

Background:

• The memory for goals model highlights the role of an 'interruption lag' for encoding suspended goals.
• Understanding how to optimize this encoding process is crucial for task resumption after interruptions.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate if increasing goal-state access cost enhances the effectiveness of an interruption lag.
• To explore memory-based encoding strategies induced by higher access costs.

Main Methods:

• Two experiments employed a copying task with varying goal-state access costs (Low, Medium, High) and a 5-s interruption lag.
• Experiment 1 measured trial resumption and correct action execution from memory.
• Experiment 2 included a prospective memory test and eye-tracking during the interruption lag.

Main Results:

• Higher access costs combined with an interruption lag improved resumption and correct recall of interrupted task actions (Experiment 1).
• Participants with high access costs and an interruption lag showed superior encoding of target information, confirmed by prospective memory scores and gaze behavior (Experiment 2).

Conclusions:

• Increasing goal-state access cost can enhance memory encoding during interruption lags, supporting memory-based strategies.
• Findings have implications for designing systems that optimize performance during task interruptions and goal management.