I am interested in exploring the degree to which the typical distractions encountered in offices (e.g. overhearing irrelevant conversations, distractions in visual field) interfere with the typical types of tasks performed in those offices. In other words, I want to be able to predict how much the performance of Task A (primary work activity) will be disrupted by the concurrent performance of Task B (attending to, and trying to ignore, an irrelevant distractor).
I have previously come across Wickens' Multiple Resource Theory and its use as a computational model to predict dual task interference (e.g. Wickens, 2008), and found it to be a very useful framework for describing which cognitive resources are used for which tasks. However, I have only ever seen this applied in contexts such as interface design in visual tasks (e.g. designing cockpits for pilots). Is anyone aware of the application of this theory in more traditional workplace design?
Alternatively, is anyone aware of any other useful frameworks which might help me to predict how a particular type of 'knowledge work' will be disrupted by the presence of a distractor?
I think the work of one of my PhD students (Mr. Ellemieke van Doorn) concerning the enhancement of required situation awareness might be interesting for you. She developed a comprehensive analysis model that blends cognitive task analysis and observational research techniques to identify deficiences.
Van Doorn EC, Horvath I, Rusak Z (2014) A systematic approach to addressing the influence of man-machine interaction on situation awareness. In: Proceedings of the 10th International Symposium on Tools and Methods of Competitive Engineering, Budapest, Hungary, vol. 1, pp 109–120.
Van Doorn EC, Horvath I, Rusak Z (2015) Combined use of cognitive task analysis and observational research data to identify deficiencies of support for situation awareness. In: Proceedings of the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society 59th Annual Meeting, Los Angeles, USA, 1717–1721.
Van Doorn EC, Rusak Z, Horvath I (2017) A situation awareness analysis scheme to identify deficiencies of complex man-machine interaction. Int J Inf Technol Manag 16(1):53–72.
Presumably, Selective attention theories ,such as Broadbent's filter model and Treisman's Attenuation Model (concerning dichotic hearing) might be helpful by adapting them in an audiovisual task.
Wickens (2008) is a good starting point, but it's theory. Look at mental workload measurement techniques such as NASA-TLX. I believe there are many publications about experiments assessing the workload of primary and secondary tasks.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Workload
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NASA-TLX
A useful source of ideas may be:
Working Minds (2006), MIT Press, by Crandall, Klein & Hoffman
Nadine Sarter at the University of Michigan has done extensive work in interruption management as well as multimodal displays which you may find useful.
The Florida Institute for Human & Machine Cognition (IHMC), Robert Hoffam et al, have done some CTA work. Their knowledge modelling and analysis tools (eg CMAP) might be of interest too: https://www.ihmc.us/research/modeling-sharing-simulation/
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