Individual Differences in Secondary Task Performance and Subjective Estimation of Workload

Abstract

This experiment had two purposes. First, it attempted to replicate the easy-to-hard prediction for residual capacity described by Lansman and Hunt (1982) for two complex task combinations. Second, it examined the relation between individual differences in resource capacity, as indicated by the easy-to-hard prediction, and the subjective experience of workload. One task combination involved a verbal-memory task paired with a vowel-consonant classification task. The other combination involved a paired-associate task with a name-classification task. The easy-to-hard prediction was not replicated for either task combination; easy primary task performance provided a better prediction of hard primary task performances than did secondary task performance. Measures of residual capacity were not related to subjective ratings of workload, however, the workload scales were sensitive to between-task differences.