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Measuring cognitive workload in the nuclear control room: a review
1Institute for Energy Technology/OECD, NEA Halden Human Technology-Organisation (HTO) Project, Halden, Norway.
Ergonomics
|January 27, 2024
Summary
Self-report measures and secondary tasks effectively assess cognitive workload in human-system interfaces. Future research should explore physiological and behavioral measures for comprehensive workload evaluation.
Area of Science:
- Human-Computer Interaction
- Cognitive Psychology
- Human Factors Engineering
Background:
- Evaluators face challenges in selecting appropriate cognitive workload measures for complex human-technology systems.
- Existing literature and guidance do not fully address practical selection issues.
Purpose of the Study:
- To review and synthesize findings on cognitive workload measurement methods.
- To provide recommendations for selecting measures in human-system evaluations.
- To identify gaps in current measurement research, particularly concerning excessive workload.
Main Methods:
- Systematic review of 32 articles on cognitive workload measures.
- Analysis of measure sensitivity to human-system interface conditions.
- Examination of correlations between different measure types (self-report, secondary task, physiological).
Main Results:
- Self-report measures and secondary tasks are sensitive to interface conditions and correlate with physiological measures.
- Physiological measures are primarily used in methodological studies, with limited demonstrated utility in complex work settings.
- Indexes of physiological measures show potential for cognitive workload assessment.
- Limited research exists on measuring excessive cognitive workload.
Conclusions:
- Self-report measures are recommended for evaluating human-system interfaces due to their sensitivity and correlation with other measures.
- Further research is needed to establish the utility of physiological measures in real-world complex work settings.
- Behavioral measures require further investigation for assessing both underload and overload cognitive workload.
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