Masters Theses

Abstract

"As the amount of technology involved in the typical workplace increases and standard operational procedures become increasingly sophisticated the danger of overloading an operator's mental resources is increasing. As much as these technological developments help operators with daily tasks, for example by providing information via monitors and wireless headsets; it also increased the mental workload due to the bombardment of information. Mental workload is commonly associated with information processing tasks, limits. With all the extra information inputs it is difficult to set limits where excessive information becomes dangerous. The workload optimization is critical as it directly affects system performance and operator well being. This study focuses on the workload associating with visual and audio resources using the Wickens' multiple resource theory (MRT). Wickens' multiple resource theory proposes that humans have different resources for performing tasks and limited capacity for processing information.

This thesis describes a study where subjects were asked to perform two tasks at the same time and the performance decrement in one or both tasks is analyzed to determine the workload threshold. The experiments use the Lafayette's Multi-choice Reaction Timer and CogniPlus software to identify different visual and auditory stimulus in five different difficulty levels. The study concludes with recommendations for engineering managers to consider when designing tasks or systems that require operators to multitask"--Abstract, page iii.

Advisor(s)

Murray, Susan L.

Committee Member(s)

Sheng, Hong
Cudney, Elizabeth A.

Department(s)

Engineering Management and Systems Engineering

Degree Name

M.S. in Engineering Management

Publisher

Missouri University of Science and Technology

Publication Date

Spring 2010

Pagination

x, 92 pages

Note about bibliography

Includes bibliographical references (pages 84-91).

Rights

© 2010 Muhammet Servet Gulum, All rights reserved.

Document Type

Thesis - Open Access

File Type

text

Language

English

Subject Headings

Employees -- Workload
Human multitasking -- Case studies
Mental fatigue -- Measurement
Mental work

Thesis Number

T 9612

Print OCLC #

680326072

Electronic OCLC #

911055055

Link to Catalog Record

Electronic access to the full-text of this document is restricted to Missouri S&T users. Otherwise, request this publication directly from Missouri S&T Library or contact your local library.

http://merlin.lib.umsystem.edu/record=b8058749~S5

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