The role of reward and effort over time in task switching

Abstract

When multitasking in a demanding environment, operators strategically switch between tasks. Two influences on this multi-task management behaviour are the perceived rewards gained from performing a task, and the perceived effort a task requires in order to be completed. Proportionally, reward over effort is ‘rate of return’, expressing that either reward or effort changing over time spent performing a task, may influence multitasking behaviour. In the current experiment, two of four tasks within a multitasking paradigm provided constant or diminishing reward and required either constant or increasing effort in their performance. For on-going tasks, decreasing reward and increasing effort required both increased the probability of a task switch. The theory contributed here supports the study of multi-task management, and task switching model development. We discuss each in the context of safety-critical applications.

Keywords:

• Decision-making
• multi-tasking
• reward
• task switching
• task management
• time on task

Acknowledgements

We thank Tyler Scott for extensive aid in extracting data from MATB, and two anonymous reviewers for their comments and insights on an earlier draft.

Disclosure statement

The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the authors and do not reflect the official policy or position of any agency of the US government.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by NASA under Grant NNX12AE69G. RSG’s contribution was also supported in part by a United States Department of Defence SMART scholarship.

This work was supported by NASA under Grant NNX12AE69G. RSG’s contribution was alsosupported in part by a United States Department of Defense SMART scholarship.

Notes on contributors

Robert S. Gutzwiller

Dr Robert S. Gutzwiller is a professor of Human Systems Engineering at Arizona State University in Mesa, Arizona, after serving as a civilian scientist with the United States Navy. He received his PhD in cognitive psychology from Colorado State University in 2014. [email protected]

Christopher D. Wickens

Dr Christopher Dow Wickens is a professor emeritus of aviation and psychology at the University of Illinois and is currently a senior scientist at Alion Science and Technology, Boulder, Colorado, and professor of psychology at Colorado State University. [email protected]

Benjamin A. Clegg

Dr Benjamin A. Clegg is a professor of cognitive psychology at Colorado State University. He received his PhD in psychology in 1998 from the University of Oregon. [email protected]