Wu Man, Gao Qin, Liu Yang
Tsinghua University, Beijing, China.
Hum Factors. 2023 May;65(3):450-481. doi: 10.1177/00187208211018882. Epub 2021 Jun 1.
The study aims to examine the effects of interruptions in major phases (i.e., problem-identification, alternative-development, and evaluation-and-selection) of complex decision-making tasks.
The ability to make complex decisions is of increasing importance in workplaces. Complex decision-making involves a multistage process and is likely to be interrupted, given the ubiquitous prevalence of interruptions in workplaces today.
Sixty participants were recruited for the experiment to complete a procurement task, which required them to define goals, search for alternatives, and consider multiple attributes of alternatives to make decisions. Participants in the three experimental conditions were interrupted to respond to messages during one of these three phases, whereas participants in the control condition were not interrupted. The impacts of interruptions on performance, mental workload, and emotional states were measured through a combination of behavioral, physiological, and subjective evaluations.
Only participants who were interrupted in the evaluation-and-selection phase exhibited poorer task performance, despite their positive feelings toward interruptions and confidence. Participants who were interrupted in the problem-identification phase reported higher mental workload and more negative perceptions toward interruptions. Interruptions in the alternative-development phase led to more temporal changes in arousal and valence than interruptions in other phases.
Interruptions during the evaluation-and-selection phase undermine overall performance, and there is a discrepancy between behavioral outcomes and subjective perceptions of interruption effects.
Interruptions should be avoided in the evaluation-and-selection phase in complex decision-making. This phase information can be either provided by users or inferred from coarse-grained interaction activities with decision-making information systems.
本研究旨在考察复杂决策任务的主要阶段（即问题识别、备选方案制定以及评估与选择）中干扰因素的影响。
在工作场所中，做出复杂决策的能力变得越来越重要。复杂决策涉及一个多阶段过程，鉴于如今工作场所中干扰因素普遍存在，该过程很可能会被打断。
招募60名参与者进行实验，以完成一项采购任务，该任务要求他们定义目标、寻找备选方案，并考虑备选方案的多个属性以做出决策。三个实验条件下的参与者在这三个阶段中的其中一个阶段被打断去回复消息，而控制条件下的参与者未被打断。通过行为、生理和主观评估相结合的方式来测量干扰因素对绩效、心理负荷和情绪状态的影响。
只有在评估与选择阶段被打断的参与者表现出较差的任务绩效，尽管他们对干扰因素持积极态度且有信心。在问题识别阶段被打断的参与者报告称心理负荷更高，且对干扰因素的负面看法更多。与其他阶段的干扰相比，备选方案制定阶段的干扰导致唤醒和效价方面出现更多的即时变化。
评估与选择阶段的干扰会损害整体绩效，并且行为结果与干扰影响的主观认知之间存在差异。
在复杂决策的评估与选择阶段应避免干扰。该阶段的信息既可以由用户提供，也可以从与决策信息系统的粗粒度交互活动中推断得出。
