The Effects of Interruption Context on Task Performance

Abstract

This study examines the effects of contextual similarity or dissimilarity of interruptions during task performance. Participants engaged in a series of working memory tasks using a computer interface. While performing these tasks they were intermittently interrupted and required to perform a different task. Each participant was interrupted with four different tasks that varied in context from identically related information given during the primary task to unrelated contextual information. Performance was assessed based on the total number of errors during each task before and after an interruption. Results revealed an increase in error rate when a participant was interrupted with a contextually dissimilar task compared to the primary task. These findings suggest that a person who experiences an interruption by a task with contextually identical information to the primary task will make fewer errors following the completion of the interruption compared to a task with contextually dissimilar information.