Office of Aerospace Medicine Technical Reports
FAA Office of Aerospace Medicine
Civil Aerospace Medical Institute
Report No: DOT/FAA/AM-78/33
Title and Subtitle: Time-sharing ability in complex performance: An expanded replication
Report Date: September 1978
Authors: Chiles WD, Jennings AE
Abstract: Factor analyses were performed on data from 51 subjects tested on the CAMI Multiple Task Performance Battery (MTPB). Five different complex performance task combinations were used as well as the six individual MTPB tasks performed by themselves. The primary treatment of the data involved factor analyses of the tasks of the five different complex tasks along with appropriate measures of the tasks performed singly.
The results were interpreted to support the hypothesized existence of a time-sharing ability. Orthogonal factors were found on which the monitoring tasks, in general, loaded during simple performance; the monitoring tasks loaded on separate orthogonal factors when they were performed as a part of a complex task. Potential relevance of these findings to aviation selection and performance research programs is noted.
Key Words: Complex performance, Time-sharing ability, Divided attention
No. of Pages: 16
Civil Aerospace Medical Institute
Report No: DOT/FAA/AM-78/33
Title and Subtitle: Time-sharing ability in complex performance: An expanded replication
Report Date: September 1978
Authors: Chiles WD, Jennings AE
Abstract: Factor analyses were performed on data from 51 subjects tested on the CAMI Multiple Task Performance Battery (MTPB). Five different complex performance task combinations were used as well as the six individual MTPB tasks performed by themselves. The primary treatment of the data involved factor analyses of the tasks of the five different complex tasks along with appropriate measures of the tasks performed singly.
The results were interpreted to support the hypothesized existence of a time-sharing ability. Orthogonal factors were found on which the monitoring tasks, in general, loaded during simple performance; the monitoring tasks loaded on separate orthogonal factors when they were performed as a part of a complex task. Potential relevance of these findings to aviation selection and performance research programs is noted.
Key Words: Complex performance, Time-sharing ability, Divided attention
No. of Pages: 16
Last updated: Friday, June 1, 2012