Helpful or Harmful? Examining the Effects of Interruptions on Task Performance

Abstract

Most research on interruptions has shown that they can be disruptive by causing a longer time to complete the primary task and by causing more errors on the primary task. However, a limited amount of research has shown that interruptions can actually be beneficial to simple primary tasks, a benefit that has been explained by arousal. We sought to replicate the finding that simple tasks can benefit from interruptions and to examine the specific processes that are actually improving as a result of the interruptions. More specifically, reaction time data and eye movement data were collected to account for motor actions and perceptual processes. Results indicate that participants' immediate action following the interruption was disrupted. However, participants' other actions during the interruption trials were actually performed faster and with fewer errors as compared to the control. This speed-up is not attributed to faster motor responses, but actually to faster perceptual processing.

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