Interrupting problem solving: effects of interruption position and complexity

Abstract

The Tower of London problem (Ward & Allport, 1997) – a task that involves the formulation, retention and execution of a series of task goals – is used as a basis for two experiments that assessed the effects of interruption to task performance. When primary task goals were suspended by the requirement to complete a brief, unrelated secondary activity, a time cost was incurred in retrieving these goals relative to uninterrupted solution execution (Experiment 1). This finding is contrary to the predictions of ACT-R’s goal stack (Anderson & Lebiere, 1998) by which retrieval of pending goals is instant and error-free. Furthermore, the time cost incurred was greater when the intervening task was more demanding, and when the interruption occurred earlier in the course of problem solving (Experiment 2). Current models of goal memory (Altmann & Trafton, 2002; Anderson & Douglass, 2001) provide a useful basis for the interpretation of these effects, suggesting that goals may suffer decay and interference like other declarative

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