Doctor of Philosophy / Department of Family Studies and Human Services / Farrell J. Webb / The current military family life is punctuated by a series of events that are not present in the lives of most Americans, most notably the stress, fear, and disruption of lives that accompany the periodic absences of one or both adults in the family. These absences fostered by deployments, challenges of readjustments, coupled with combat injuries have tremendous effects on not only the troops and their families, but also the communities that military families live in as well. This investigation examined how military assistance, family connectedness and community networks contribute to the well-being of families affected by anticipated and repeated deployments that cause family interruptions. Despite the myriad of studies on military deployments and the impact on families, there has been little focus on the spouse and children that relates to their resilience during the deployment process. Using an online national all service unit sample from military spouses (n = 185) who have children and have experienced a recent deployment (n = 153) it was possible to isolated the specific components that influenced the well-being of those affected by deployments. The Influence of Interruptions on Family Well-Being Model—which combines ideas from both the ecological systems and boundary ambiguity perspectives—was tested and utilized in this study. It was disclosed that 45% of the variance in well-being could be explained by knowing how families perceive the deployment process, military assistance, community networks, family connectedness, and how these families coped with periodic family interruptions. These data revealed that deployments have a greater impact than originally conceived and that issues addressing deployments must be placed on the national agenda, particularly where family well-being is concerned. The research findings underscore the importance of family to both the deployed personnel and the ones that they leave home. The implications from this investigation are simple and direct—there needs to be a more comprehensive program for children that employ pre-, during- and post-deployment related issues, such as adjustments to absent parents, developing better responses to the authority structure of the remaining parent, and some program focused on the immediate and long-term psychological needs of the children and their families.

The purpose of this study is to determine how nonroutine acts performed by iii trained emergency workers developed into routine emergency acts and skills. I will be specifically looking for concepts that are common throughout the different types of emergency workers that will be interviewed. The data is gathered from focus groups that were recruited from classes on campus. In particular the results depict some very common techniques used in training that allowed the workers to feel confident about their role in emergencies. These tended to include repetition of "classroom training, "but more importantly from the viewpoint of the workers, repetition of simulated emergencies. The development of autonomy in decision making was an important facet for workers whose work "territory" was varied; however, autonomy was rarely stressed for those in relatively constant surroundings such as pools. Several commonalities were found throughout each field. These included interruptions, self-efficacy, the use of judgment and tacit knowledge. Many of the participants also expressed the same sentiment towards their feelings of the training and its efficiency. Some research will also show attempts to change policy and training within emergency workers in order to improve job performance and enhance the safety of the public as well. I will include a small statistical appendix that looks at the satisfaction level of evacuees who fled to Houston, Texas when Hurricane Katrina hit. Five specific factors were examined and regressed to determine satisfaction levels. Only two factors showed any type of significance. As the discussion will indicate, certain previous factors, before the hurricane hit, are believed to be the cause of these particular results.

This study investigates doctors’ and patients’ usage of three speech functions; namely statements, questions and commands in the American medical drama series House M.D. Furthermore, the study investigates interruptions between doctors and patients. The aim of the study was to ascertain whether the claim that doctors practice power over patients can be verified. The data comprises transcripts of 16 video recorded sessions of doctors and patient interacting where the material was personally collected and analyzed. In their interactions, doctors were found to dominate in making statements, asking questions and uttering commands. In addition, it was detected that the doctors’ and patients’ way to communicate differed given the fact that doctors are trained in their roles as doctors while patients are not. However, both interactants were found to perform the different speech functions similarly. The study also revealed that doctors interrupted more as compared to patients. Furthermore, gendered interruptions were found in the data, all of which came from male participants and it was concluded that the findings could be linked to the social and cultural roles of the participants. Overall, it was concluded that there exists a power relationship between doctors and patients.

Background: Prospective memory (ProM) consists of remembering that some action needs to be performed in the future and when (detecting the Intent Trigger), and what the action is (Recalling the Content of the trigger). The Intent Trigger is bound by a forward association to the Content Recall, and the Content Recall has a backward association to the intent Trigger. In situations which present multiple, interleaving ProM tasks to operators it is not known how subsequently-presented ProM tasks interfere with the associations between the Intent Trigger and Content Recall of the original ProM task. Objective: The current study investigated the effect of presenting multiple, interleaved ProM tasks on timely detection of the Intent Trigger and accurate Recall of the Content of the original ProM task. Method: Participants encoded a ProM task (AB) in an air traffic control simulation. They then were interrupted with a second ProM task. The ProM interruption task was different from the original ProM task in either the Intent Trigger (AB, CB), Content Recall (AB, AD), or both Intent Trigger and Content Recall (i.e., a new ProM task, AB, CD). A control condition involved interrupting the participant with a weather report. Results: Detection of the Intent Trigger was significantly worse after a ProM interruption as compared to a weather interruption; a similar pattern of results, but with marginal significance, was also found for Content Recall. Additionally, a ProM task that interfered with backward association (AB, CB) was no better or worse than doing two unrelated ProM tasks (AB, CD) on the detection of the Intent Trigger. However, a task that presented a new forward association (AB, AD) was worse than performing two unrelated ProM tasks (AB, CD) on Recall of the Content. The results are discussed in the context of designing memory aids to support interleaved ProM tasks in dynamic environments.

Many people are more or less constantly connected through mobile technology today. This provides opportunities, but also makes people vulnerable for interruptions and prone to engage in multitasking, when full focus might be needed. Smartphone usage is common especially among younger people, making it interesting to investigate constant connectivity’s effect on learning. Previous studies have focused on quantifiable results regarding the effect on learning, such as impact on grades, but has not investigated the qualitative aspects. This thesis investigates students’ experiences regarding interruptions and multitasking through a three-part study. The results show that the impact is very context dependent and phone usage is occasionally not reflected upon. Further, the result indicates that being expected to always be available and respond quickly could be perceived as a problem. The findings presented in this thesis can contribute with important design implications for devices to enable single-task focus and avoiding interruptions.

Dans le domaine aéronautique, comme dans de nombreux autres domaines de la vie courante ou professionnelle, les erreurs ont souvent été associées à des défaillances attentionnelles. Nos travaux s’insèrent dans cette problématique, et sont plus particulièrement focalisés sur les variations de la capacité à allouer son attention sur une tâche donnée à la suite d’une interruption. Dans un premier temps, nous avons mis en place des expérimentations qui permettent d’évaluer l’étendue des variations de performances obtenues dans une tâche à la suite d’une interruption, en fonction des composantes attentionnelles sollicitées dans la tâche à exécuter. Dans un second temps, nous avons mis en place un indicateur fiable et objectif mettant en évidence des différences dans le fonctionnement physiologique cérébral en fonction de ces composantes attentionnelles. Dans un troisième temps, nous avons été amenés à vérifier l’effet de diverses interruptions dans des situations aéronautiques réalistes. Nos travaux permettent de conclure à l’existence de fluctuations de l’attention à la suite d’une interruption, fluctuations dont la conséquence peut se traduire par des variations de performances et par différentes stratégies de gestion des erreurs et des activités. / In the aviation field, as in many other areas of personal or professional life, errors have often been associated with attentional failures. Our work is related to this issue, and is more particularly focused on variations of attention following an interruption. In a first step, we have set up experiments to measure changes in performance obtained in a task after an interruption. These variations are studied systematically according to various attentional components requested in the task at hand. In a second step, we have set up an indicator showing differences in the physiological functioning of the brain depending on these attentional components. Thirdly, we have tested the effect of various interruptions in realistic aeronautical situations. From our work, we conclude that there is a variation in attention after an interruption, the consequences of which can result in errors, performance variations, and differences in the management of errors and activities.

This work seeks to characterize the impact of build interruptions to additively manufactured Al-Si-10-Mg produced by the powder bed fusion (PBF) process. Additive manufacturing represents a significant investment in overhead, machine, and material making an interruption to the process a potential waste of money and time. Interruptions in the form of power outages, lack of powdered feedstock, and/or shielding gas will cause the machine to operate in an unintended manner, potentially even stopping the build process. The process of manufacturing will influence the microstructure, which determine the material’s properties and performance. An interrupted PBF process could exhibit unique microstructural features and reduced mechanical properties that distinguish the resulting material from a continuous PBF process. Experiments were performed to simulate a production interruption with varying time periods of interruption and air exposure. The zone of interruption was characterized using optical micrographs, EDS, and hardness measurements to determine any effects of the interruption.

Idle time is a common phenomenon that prevents employees from performing their core job tasks, with detrimental effects on employee well-being and performance. Drawing on affective events theory, the job demands-resources model, and action regulation theory, this dissertation addresses three main questions: First, how idle time affects employee well-being and performance; second, the mechanisms behind these effects, namely appraisals and affective reactions; and third, the conditions under which idle time may be beneficial for employees. Study 1 (N = 338) showed indirect negative effects of objective idle time on employee well-being through the subjective experience of being idle. Age was negatively and boredom proneness positively associated with subjective idle time. Two experiments in Study 2 (N2a = 445, N2b = 597) demonstrated the detrimental effects of regulation problems on employee well-being and performance, mediated by objective and subjective idle time. Recovery activities buffered the detrimental effects of idle time. In Study 3, a 12-month, five-wave longitudinal study (N = 1,036), the associations of idle time with lower job satisfaction, higher turnover intentions, and higher counterproductive work behavior were mediated by higher boredom. Finally, the results of Study 4, based on the same data as Study 3, showed that the effects of idle time on employee exhaustion and engagement depended on boundary conditions, namely workload and autonomy. For high workload employees, idle time was positively associated with engagement, whereas when autonomy was high, idle time was associated with lower exhaustion and lower engagement. During idle time, relaxation was beneficial, whereas detachment was detrimental regarding employee exhaustion and engagement. Idle time is detrimental to employee well-being and performance, mediated by subjective idle time, boredom, and lack of recovery, respectively. Certain conditions, like high workload or using idle time for relaxation, can make it beneficial for employees. The results provide insights for research, particular in the areas of waiting, interruptions, recovery, and well-being.:Acknowledgments i English Abstract ii German Abstract iii Table of Contents iv List of Tables ix List of Figures x 1 General Introduction 1 2 Study 1: Effects of Idle Time on Well-Being – An Experimental Study 6 2.1 Abstract 6 2.2 Introduction 7 2.3 Idle Time as an Affective Event at Work 9 2.4 Method 11 2.4.1 Open Science 11 2.4.2 Study Design 11 2.4.3 Participants 12 2.4.4 Materials 13 2.4.5 Data Analysis 14 2.5 Results 15 2.5.1 Descriptive Statistics 15 2.5.2 Confirmatory Factor Analysis 15 2.5.3 Manipulation Check 15 2.5.4 Hypothesis Tests 15 2.5.5 Exploratory Results 16 2.6 Discussion 17 2.6.1 Theoretical and Practical Implications 17 2.6.2 Limitations and Future Research 19 2.7 Conclusion 21 2.8 Open Data and Electronic Supplementary Materials (ESM 1) 21 3 Study 2: Idle Time, Recovery, and Work Outcomes: Results of Two Experimental Studies 26 3.1 Abstract 26 3.2 Introduction 27 3.3 Idle Time at Work 29 3.3.1 Antecedents of Idle Time 29 3.3.2 The Consequences of Idle Time 30 3.3.3 The Mechanisms Underlying Effects of Idle Time 31 3.4 Study 1 33 3.4.1 Method 33 3.4.2 Results 36 3.4.3 Discussion 37 3.5 Study 2 37 3.5.1 Method 37 3.5.2 Results 40 3.5.3 Discussion 43 3.6 General Discussion 43 3.6.1 Theoretical and Practical Implications 44 3.6.2 Limitations and Future Research 46 3.7 Conclusion 47 4 Study 3: Is it Bad Because it is Boring? Effects of Idle Time on Employee Outcomes 58 4.1 Abstract 58 4.2 Introduction 59 4.3 The Effects of Idle Time 62 4.3.1 Idle Time and Boredom 63 4.3.2 Boredom and Employee Outcomes 64 4.3.3 Idle Time and Employee Outcomes 65 4.4 Method 66 4.4.1 Participants and Procedure 66 4.4.2 Measures 68 4.4.3 Statistical Analysis 70 4.5 Results 71 4.5.1 Hypothesis Tests 71 4.5.2 Additional Analyses 73 4.6 Discussion 75 4.6.1 Theoretical and Practical Implications 75 4.6.2 Limitations and Future Research 77 4.7 Conclusion 79 5 Study 4: Can Idle Time Serve as a Resource? A Job Demands-Resources Approach 88 5.1 Abstract 88 5.2 Introduction 89 5.3 Theoretical Background and Hypotheses Development 91 5.3.1 The Downsides of Idle Time 91 5.3.2 The Benefits of Idle Time 92 5.4 Method 94 5.4.1 Participants and Procedure 94 5.4.2 Measures 95 5.4.3 Data Analysis 97 5.5 Results 97 5.5.1 Hypothesis Tests 97 5.5.2 Additional Analyses 99 5.6 Discussion 99 5.6.1 Theoretical and Practical Implications 100 5.6.2 Limitations and Future Directions 102 5.7 Conclusion 103 6 General Discussion 109 6.1 Summary 109 6.2 Theoretical Contributions 110 6.2.1 The Consequences of Idle Time 110 6.2.2 The Mechanisms Underlying Idle Time 111 6.2.3 Recovery and Boundary Conditions 112 6.3 Practical Contributions 113 6.4 Limitations and Future Directions 114 6.4.1 Affective Events Theory 114 6.4.2 Event System Theory 115 6.4.3 Action Regulation Theory 116 6.5 Conclusion 117 References 118 Appendix I Theses I Idle Time at Work I Study 1: Effects of Idle Time on Well-Being – An Experimental Study II Study 2: Idle Time, Recovery, and Work Outcomes: Results of Two Experimental Studies II Study 3: Is it Bad Because it is Boring? Effects of Idle Time on Employee Outcomes II Study 4: Can Idle Time Serve as a Resource? A Job Demands-Resources Approach III Conclusion IV References IV Thesen VI Leerlaufzeiten bei der Arbeit VI Studie 1: Auswirkungen von Leerlaufzeiten auf das Wohlbefinden – eine Experiment VII Studie 2: Leerlaufzeit, Erholung und Arbeitsergebnisse: Ergebnisse von zwei experimentellen Studien VII Studie 3: Sind sie schlecht, weil sie langweilig sind? Auswirkungen von Leerlaufzeiten auf Beschäftigte VII Studie 4: Kann Leerlaufzeit als Ressource dienen? Ein Arbeitsanforderungen-Ressourcen-Ansatz VIII Schlussfolgerungen IX Literaturverzeichnis IX Curriculum Vitae XI Publication List XII Selbstständigkeitserklärung XIV Nachweise über die Anteile der Co-Autorschaft: Studie 1 XV Nachweise über die Anteile der Co-Autorschaft: Studie 2 XVI Nachweise über die Anteile der Co-Autorschaft: Studie 3 XVII Nachweise über die Anteile der Co-Autorschaft: Studie 4 XVIII

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