Working Memory and Visual Distraction Predict Concurrent Task Performance

Degree Awarded: Ph.D. Psychology. The Catholic University of AmericaIn a number of real-world contexts, selection of individuals for performance is based on general cognitive indicators such as the SAT. However, many tasks today involve complex concurrent activities that are likely better described by a more specific analysis of underlying cognitive attributes. Two such cognitive attributes that are of specific interest in a range of tasks are working memory (WM) and visual attention. The present study examined how these cognitive attributes, as well as a more general measure of intellectual ability, predicted performance on a set of simulated concurrent flight-based tasks with ongoing competing attentional demands. Ninety-two participants completed a series of computer-based concurrent flight tasks in the Multi-Attribute Test Battery (MATB II) developed by NASA. The tasks included ongoing monitoring of a series of gauges, responding to appropriate auditory communication requests, managing a series of pumps associated with fuel tanks, and tracking in a way that maintained a target within a given region. To successfully manage the flight, participants had to balance their attention across the competing tasks. The relationship of WM and visual attention to performance on this complex task was evaluated and compared to that of a basic intelligence measure. The impact of WM and visual attention, together with a typical general intelligence measure, was determined using path analysis. All three components provided reliable prediction of performance on the MATB II. In addition, working memory capacity was reliably related to both visual attention and general intelligence measures. The path analysis indicates that complex task performance depends on discrete cognitive capacities but also their interaction. Isolating some of the factors that lead to performance outcomes may help to improve selection of individuals that are best qualified to perform complex, concurrent tasks