A comparison of human versus virtual interruptions

Although a wealth of research has examined the effects of virtual interruptions, human-initiated interruptions are common in many work settings. An experiment compared performance on a primary data-entry task during human-initiated (human) versus computer-initiated (virtual) interruptions. Participants completed blocks of trials that featured either an interruption from a computer or an interruption from a human experimenter. The timing of the onset of the interruptions was also varied across trials. Human interruptions resulted in much shorter interruption lags. No significant differences were observed for the number of correct responses on the primary task for human versus virtual interruptions, but interruptions that occurred later in the task sequence resulted in fewer mistakes. The social aspect of human interruptions may have attenuated interruption lags in that condition, and it is possible that virtual interruptions may permit people greater temporal flexibility in managing their engagement with interruptions.

Title	A comparison of human versus virtual interruptions
Creator	Fortna, A.
Creator	Nees, Michael
Publisher	Ergonomics
Academic Department	Psychology
Division	Social Sciences
Organization	Lafayette College
Date Issued	May 2015
Date Available	2016-05-03T13:40:15Z
Type	Article
Language	English
Keyword	multitasking
	interruption lag
	human-computer interaction
	interruptions
	resumption lag
Bibliographic Citation	Nees, M. and A. Fortna. (2015 May) "A comparison of human versus virtual interruptions." Ergonomics 58 (5): 852-856.
Standard Identifier	Handle 10385/2116
Standard Identifier	DOI 10.1080/00140139.2014.990934
Permalink	http://hdl.handle.net/10385/2116
Rights Statement	In Copyright
Rights Holders	Informa UK, Limited