Individual differences in the experience of cognitive workload

Abstract

This study investigated the roles of four psychosocial variables – anxiety, conscientiousness, emotional intelligence, and Protestant work ethic – on subjective ratings of cognitive workload as measured by the Task Load Index (TLX) and the further connections between the four variables and TLX ratings of task performance. The four variables represented aspects of an underlying construct of elasticity versus rigidity in response to workload. Participants were 141 undergraduates who performed a vigilance task under different speeded conditions while working on a jigsaw puzzle for 90 minutes. Regression analysis showed that anxiety and emotional intelligence were the two variables most proximally related to TLX ratings. TLX ratings contributed to the prediction of performance on the puzzle, but not the vigilance task. Severity error bias was evident in some of the ratings. Although working in pairs improved performance, it also resulted in higher ratings of temporal demand and perceived performance pressure.

Keywords:

• cognitive workload
• NASA task load index (TLX)
• conscientiousness
• anxiety
• dual task
• emotional intelligence
• group dynamics

Acknowledgements

The authors wish to thank the anonymous reviewers for numerous insights and suggestions that are reflected in this article. The responsibility for anything presented here is, of course, ours. The authors also wish to thank Megan Fabisch, Hillary Gorin, Kirsten Poston and Kelsey Weinberger for their assistance with data collection.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Stephen J. Guastello

Stephen J. Guastello is a Professor of Psychology at Marquette University in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, where he specializes in industrial—organizational psychology and human factors. He received his PhD in industrial—organizational psychology from the Illinois Institute of Technology in Chicago in 1982. He is the author or co-editor of five books on applications of nonlinear dynamics in work psychology, author of numerous articles in the same general area and Editor-in-Chief of Nonlinear Dynamics, Psychology and Life Sciences.

Anton Shircel

Anton Shircel is currently a member of the organizational development team at Kohler, Inc., Sheboygan, Wisconsin. He received his BA from Marquette University majoring in Psychology in 2013.

Matthew Malon

Matthew Malon is currently studying art and design at University of Wisconsin, Milwaukee. He received his BA from Marquette University majoring in Psychology and Philosophy in 2013. He is a former member of the security team at the Milwaukee Public Museum.

Paul Timm

Paul Timm is a researcher at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester MN. He received his BA degree from Marquette University majoring in Psychology and Criminology in 2013.