Citation

Fasanya BK. Int. J. Occup. Safety Ergonomics 2016; 22(3): 405-413.

Affiliation

a School of Technology , North Carolina A&T State University , Greensboro , NC , USA.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2016, Centralny Instytut Ochrony Pracy - Państwowy Instytut Badawczy, Publisher Informa - Taylor and Francis Group)

DOI

10.1080/10803548.2016.1153921

PMID

26886505

Abstract

This study investigated the effects of multiple cognitive tasks on human performance. Twenty-four graduate students at North Carolina A&T State University participated in the study. The primary task was auditory signal change perception and the secondary was computational task.

RESULTS showed that participants' performance in a single task was statistically significantly different from their performances when combined tasks: (a) algebra problems (algebra problem primary and auditory detection secondary task); (b) auditory perception tasks (auditory perception primary and algebra problems secondary task); and (c) mean false alarm score in auditory perception (auditory detection primary and algebra problems secondary task). Using signal detection theory, participants' performance measured in terms of sensitivity was calculated as -0.54 for combined tasks (algebra problems the primary task) and -0.53 auditory perceptions the primary task. During auditory perception tasks alone signal detection theory (SDT) was found to be 2.51. Performance was approximately 83% in a single task compared to 17% when tasks were combined.

Language: en