The Problem State: A Cognitive Bottleneck in Multitasking

Ganesh Pitchiah - Y9213

SE367: Introduction to Cognitive Sciences

Description

In the area of multitasking, the main challenge is to predict when and how tasks interfere. Of the many theories, Threaded Cognition theory [Salvuci & Taatgen, ‘08] is a recently proposed integrated theory of multitasking. Based on this, here we study the role of problem state (PS) resource in causing interference. Problem state is the directly accessible intermediate information involved in mental transformation tasks. The prediction made is that interference is caused whenever two tasks require the problem state. To test the prediction, an experiment is carried out where subjects have to carry out a text entry and a subtraction task concurrently. Both the tasks have two versions: one that requires a PS and one that doesn’t. There is an over-additive interaction effect, indicative of interference when both the tasks involve a PS. To compare the observations, a cognitive computation model built by [Borst & Taatgen, ‘10] was used. The model too shows an over-additive interaction effect which confirms PS as a bottleneck.

Further Links

  1. Project Proposal
  2. Presentation Slides
  3. Poster Presentation
  4. Final Report
  5. Code: Experiment Form
  6. Multitasking Data

Final Results

Text Entry Response TimeSubtraction Response Time
Text Entry AccuracySubtraction Accuracy
Figure 1. Black bars - Experimental Data, Grey bars - ACT-R Model Data, Error bars - Standard Error, RMSD - Root Mean Square Deviation

Resources & References

ACT-R and Models built on ACT-R used in the experiment.
Borst, Jelmer P., Niels A. Taatgen, and Hedderik van Rijn. "The problem state: A cognitive bottleneck in multitasking." Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, memory, and cognition 36.2 (2010): 363.
Borst, J. P., and N. A. Taatgen. "The costs of multitasking in threaded cognition." Proceedings of the Eighth International Conference on Cognitive Modeling. 2007.
Salvucci, Dario D., and Niels A. Taatgen. "Threaded cognition: an integrated theory of concurrent multitasking." Psychological Review 115.1 (2008): 101.
Anderson, John R. How can the human mind occur in the physical universe?. Vol. 3. Oxford University Press, USA, 2007.