Son Minseok, Jung Jaemoon, Hwang Dongwook, Beck Donghyun, Park Woojin
Digital Appliances Business, Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd, Seoul, South Korea.
Department of Industrial Engineering, Seoul National University, Seoul, South Korea.
Ergonomics. 2023 Feb;66(2):227-245. doi: 10.1080/00140139.2022.2075941. Epub 2022 May 18.
This study investigated possible backpack weight effects on the performance of three basic short-term/working memory (STM/WM) tasks conducted concurrently with the physical task of route walking. The STM/WM tasks were the Corsi block-tapping, digit span, and 3-back tasks, and, were employed to examine the visuo-spatial sketchpad, phonological loop and central executive components of the WM system. Four backpack weight levels (0%, 15%, 25% and 40% of body mass) were considered. Thirty participants conducted the three experimental tasks requiring physical-cognitive multitasking. Data analyses revealed that: (1) increased backpack weight resulted in decreases in the performance of the Corsi block-tapping and the 3-back task, but (2) backpack weight did not significantly affect the digit span task performance. The study results suggest that reducing backpack weight could benefit the performance of various cognitive tasks during route walking. The study findings may be useful for the ergonomics design of body-worn equipment and human-system interfaces. This study examined the backpack weight effects on the performance of three basic short-term/working memory tasks conducted concurrently with the physical task of route walking. The study revealed that reducing backpack weight could benefit various cognitive tasks during physical-cognitive multitasking, especially cognitive tasks that require visuospatial processing and executive control.
本研究调查了背包重量对与路线行走这一身体任务同时进行的三项基本短期/工作记忆（STM/WM）任务表现的可能影响。STM/WM任务包括科西方块敲击任务、数字广度任务和3-back任务，用于检验WM系统的视觉空间画板、语音回路和中央执行成分。考虑了四个背包重量水平（体重的0%、15%、25%和40%）。30名参与者进行了需要身体认知多任务处理的三项实验任务。数据分析显示：（1）背包重量增加导致科西方块敲击任务和3-back任务的表现下降，但（2）背包重量对数字广度任务的表现没有显著影响。研究结果表明，减轻背包重量可能有益于路线行走过程中各种认知任务的表现。研究结果可能对穿戴式设备和人机系统界面的人体工程学设计有用。本研究考察了背包重量对与路线行走这一身体任务同时进行的三项基本短期/工作记忆任务表现的影响。研究表明，在身体认知多任务处理过程中，减轻背包重量可能有益于各种认知任务，尤其是需要视觉空间处理和执行控制的认知任务。
