Foreseeing interruptions in dynamic environments may undermine the adequacy between perceived and observable task performance

ABSTRACT

The negative impact of interruptions on performance can sometimes be mitigated by notifying individuals shortly before their task is suspended. However, little is known about the accuracy with which individuals can assess the consequences of both unexpected and anticipated interruptions. This study investigated how suspending a dynamic task with or without prior warning influenced individuals’ self-reported performance and workload, and whether their perception aligned with their observable performance. Participants completed a simulation of above-water warfare in which they classified the threat level of surrounding aircraft and neutralized hostile aircraft. Subjective (performance, workload) and behavioural (performance) measures were compared across three types of scenarios: uninterrupted, unexpectedly interrupted, or interrupted following an auditory warning. Nearly all behavioural performance indicators were impaired by interruptions. Although the warning only partially mitigated this negative impact, participants perceived it as an effective aid overall. Therefore, individuals may sometimes misperceive that forewarned interruptions help overcoming performance costs.

KEYWORDS:

• Task interruption
• pre-interruption warning
• metacognition
• performance
• workload

Acknowledgements

We are grateful to Joanie Lamirande, Michaël Lévesque-Dion, and Alessandro Pozzi for assistance with data collection. This research was supported by grants from the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC) and the Fonds de recherche du Québec – Nature et technologies (FRQNT) awarded to François Vachon. Katherine Labonté received support from the NSERC in the form of a doctoral scholarship and from the FRQNT in the form of a postdoctoral scholarship. Correspondence concerning this article may be addressed to Katherine Labonté ([email protected]).

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Data availability statement

The dataset can be found on the Open Science Framework: https://doi.org/10.17605/OSF.IO/PVXUR

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by Fonds de recherche du Québec – Nature et technologies [Grant Number 2014-NC-171913]; Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada [Grant Number RGPIN-05626-2020].