Thesis--Lund. / Bibliography: p. 117-121.

Thesis (M.S.)--Ohio University, March, 2007. / Title from PDF t.p. Includes bibliographical references.

A dissertation submitted to the Faculty of Arts, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, for the Degree of Master of Arts. / Increasingly complex technology in modarn times has changed the nature of many work activities. Hechanisation and automation have served to emphasise the importance of mental workload to productivity, physicaI and mental health. The study uses a simulated routine office stocktaking task to compare subject and experiences of mental workload between traditional pen and paper methods and the more recently developed computer techniques. An analysis is also made of assessments of difficulty by subjects free to adopt a working method of their choice (ie. in a flexible environment) and subjects whohave no freedom of working method (ie. a rigid externally imposed working strategy). Also included is an analysis of the cognitive strategies adopted during task performance and across the different treatmerrt conditions. Research findings are of particular relevance to the design of jobs in the modern office environment where human-computer interaction is becoming increasingly prevalent, the effective design of man-machine systems, and to the genera: field of workload research. / AC 2018

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of differing goal strategies on subjective and physiological indices of workload across time. The sample consisted of 16 males and 24 females from undergraduate psychology classes at the University of Central Florida. Subjects were assigned to four goal conditions: time/accuracy, time, accuracy, and no goal, and asked to perform a computer-based decision making task comparing visual and semantic information. A trial consisted of a 15-minute baseline and three 5-minute task periods. Dependent variables included electromyopotential (EMG) measured in microvolts and a paper and pencil workload scale utilizing a Likert-type format and measuring three dimensions: general psychological stress (GPS) load, mental effort load, and time load. Results indicated that assigned goal strategy had no effect of the workload indices. Analyses of variance and trend analyses, however, revealed them EMG and mental effort load both increased from baseline to talk period 1 then decreased across time. This relationship was just the reverse for GPS load. In addition, time load decreased across time in a significant linear fashion. Zero-order correlational analyses were also performed using all dependent variables. EMG and time load were inversely related during task periods 1 and 2 whereas mental effort and GPS load were related only during task period 1. Results are discussed with reference to future research methodology in the area of workload assessment.

Forty-eight licensed pilots flew three cross-country flights in which certain aspects of perceptual workload were varied by altering the rate and number of instrument-displayed incipient danger conditions. A moving-base simulation of a single-engine general aviation aircraft was used. The sensitivity of eight mental workload estimation techniques investigated to changes in perceptual workload was within a univariate factorial design. Concurrently, the differential intrusion of the eight techniques on four primary task measures was investigated using multivariate analysis. Of the eight techniques, six displayed statistically-significant sensitivity to load level. These included two opinion rating scales, secondary task measures of time estimation standard deviation and tapping regularity, respiration rate, and a primary task measure of danger condition detection/identification time. No intrusion effect was found. Recommendations for applying the various techniques, based on the relative sensitivity of those showing significance, are discussed. / Ph. D.

As an extension of previous studies (Urbanczyk, Angel, & Kennelly, 1988) examining the effects of unimanual finger tapping on lateralized cognitive tasks, lateral body orienting was added to an established dual task paradigm to generate differential hemispheric activation and shifts of attention. One hundred twenty university students retained sequences of digits or spatial locations for 20 seconds either alone or during finger tapping. By turning both head and eyes left or right, the hemisphere congruent with the sequences (LH for digits, RH for locations) or incongruent (vice versa) was activated. Activation had little effect on retention means but greatly affected resource composition supporting task performance. Congruent orientation produced significantly higher positive correlations between digit and location tasks than incongruent orientation. Females showed higher sequence retention correlations than males across both orienting groups. For females, congruent activation enhanced tapping rates and retention-tapping correlations. For males, activation affected neither of these. Discussed in light of neuroanatomical research, these results suggest that congruent attentional orienting may integrate regions of the less activated hemisphere into networks of the more activated hemisphere. This unification may occur more readily across the female corpus callosum, producing a greater dependence upon a general attentional resource than for males, who appear to depend more upon hemispheric resources.

A dissertation submitted to the Faculty of Arts, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, in fulfillment of the requirements of the Degree of Masters of Arts. / Technological advancement has changed the nature of interactions within modern man-machine systems, with workload becoming more a load on the mental capacities of the human systems component than on his/her physical capabilities. Moreover increased system capabilities may have disproportionately reduced the time available to perform these mental operations, thereby adding new and more complex cognitive tasks. A concept crucial to the evaluation of modern man-machine systems is that of the resulting implications of loading and overloading the cognitive capabilities of the human systems component, namely the measurement of mental workload. ( Abbreviation abstract ) / AC2017

Thesis (M.S.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Mechanical Engineering, 1980. / MICROFICHE COPY AVAILABLE IN ARCHIVES AND ENGINEERING. / Includes bibliographical references. / by Bahman Daryanian. / M.S.

The school is in constant development. Parents are increasingly engaged in their childrens'  school performance. New demands emerge on the relationship between teachers and parents. And this also affects the teachers' mental work environment. This study therefore aims to examine teachers' perception of their relationship with the parents. Partly how they perceive the relationship and partly how the teachers perceive that their mental work environment is affected by this relationship. Seven active teachers have been interviewed, four who work in the upper secondary school and three who work in high school. The interviews were semi-structured and the material was compiled through a content analysis. The study showed, among other things, that the teachers' perception of the meeting with parents was mostly positive and unproblematic. The study also discuss situations when this was not the case. There was a certain difference between high school and upper secondary school teachers. The high school teachers in the study both have and feel that they have more demands on parenting. What was important for good mental work environment were good parent relationships and support from colleagues at work. Common to many of the informants was that there was a desire for even more contact with parents', in order to favor the child's schooling and performance.   Keywords: teachers, parents, school, mental work environment

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, 1991. / Vita. Abstract. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 174-179). Also available via the Internet