The multitasking phenomenon is very prevalent among students. Research on the multitasking phenomenon has either explored the extent to which it exists among students, or assessed the impact of multitasking on students' learning activities through non-voluntary multitasking experiments. However, what causes students to multitask has not received much attention. As multitasking has become a part of students' lives, it is important to understand the possible antecedents and the possible effects of the multitasking phenomenon on students. The purpose of this study is to investigate factors influencing students' multitasking behavior as well as the relationship between multitasking behavior and students' academic achievement. This was accomplished through the lens of polychronicity and behavior studies where polychronicity, sensation seeking, and technology dependence were identified as the predictors of multitasking. Viewpoints from psychology studies, brain studies, and empirical research indicated learning under distractions impairs students learning. 230 usable observations were collected through an online survey. This study adopted a two-step approach in testing the proposed model. Results of the measurement model exhibited appropriate construct validity. Following the measurement model, the structural model suggested polychronicity and sensation seeking were predictors of students' multitasking behavior, whereas technology dependence did not make a significant contribution to students' multitasking behavior. The results of the structural model also suggested that multitasking did impact students' academic performance. However, the impact found in this study contradicted that found in previous research.

Thesis (Ph. D)--UCLA, 2004. / Vita. Description based on print version record. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 213-222).

Previous research suggests that people employ priority-related task attributes (e.g., task importance, task length, and task deadline) in prioritization. The process of prioritization employs heuristics to determine task order (Zhang & Feyen, 2007a). These models only address the prioritization process at a task level and do not address the cognitive mechanisms underlying prioritization. Building on previous findings, a process model of prioritization is proposed to explain prioritization during multitasking. Two experiments examined three cognitive processes of prioritization and the influence of time pressure. Three processes were investigated: 1) a process makes magnitude comparisons on priority-related information, 2) a process integrates multiple pieces of information and checks for potential conflicts among information, and 3) a process solves conflicts among priority-related information during prioritization. Under the influence of time pressure, it is hypothesized that people will adopt strategies that require fewer cognitive resources compared to situations where no time pressure exists. A series of task conditions with various configurations of priority-related task attributes was used to illuminate these processes and hypothesis. Hierarchical regression analyses provided evidence for the three cognitive components and suggested that these cognitive components played different roles under time pressure compared to performance under no time pressure. Three fundamental cognitive processes were identified in prioritization and provide implications for personnel selection and training for jobs demanding prioritization and multitasking in the real world.

No description available.

Technological and strategic developments have changed the role of human operators in the manufacturing environment. The highly specialized work force of the low-tech manufacturing system has evolved into the multi-functional work force of the high-tech manufacturing system. Among the multiple tasks that an operator is expected to conduct in advanced manufacturing systems (AMS) are job scheduling, inventory planning, machine set-up, problem solving, and quality inspection. The quality inspection task in AMS consists of a search component, frequently conducted by a machine, and a decision making component conducted by the operator. This quality inspection system is often referred to as a hybrid inspection system (HIS). It has been demonstrated that in general the performance of HIS is better than that of pure human or pure automated inspection systems. This research investigated the effects of different types of defects (presented at the same time in the inspected parts), multitasking (concurrently conducting independent tasks), and their interaction on the operator's performance in the quality inspection task (with a memorized quality criteria) in an AMS. The results indicate that the performance of the operator in the quality inspection task while multitasking in an AMS will be determined not only by the variety of defects that can be present in the inspected parts, but also by the mental processing resources required to meet the demand imposed by the multiple independent tasks and the memorized quality criteria. The best performance will be obtained when the additional tasks' load minimizes the monotony of the quality inspection task without interfering with the processing resources needed for the memorized quality criteria. / Ph. D.

No description available.

Many different methodologies have been developed for analyzing multithreaded programs. These analyses present a wide variety of approaches and tend to be rather complicated because they work on applications formed by several threads executed in a nondeterministic order. / To address these issues this thesis introduces XThread, a flexible and modular framework for developing different concurrency analyses over multithreaded applications. The main objective of XTHREAD is to reduce the complexity of developing concurrency analyses by providing high level abstractions that close the breach between the language spoken by the researcher and the language the framework provides. Moreover, this framework provides different tools that are often required for solving issues common to many concurrency analyses. XTHREAD's modular organization also delivers a flexible environment for developing and testing different analysis implementations. / In order to demonstrate the usefulness of the framework a client analysis representing known but non-trivial multithreaded analysis is developed which is composed of several other concurrency analysis. A substantial number of benchmarks are used in order to test the implementations, showing that complex programs are accepted and correctly handled by the abstractions provided by the framework. Using the XTHREAD framework we demonstrate implementations that have both comparable accuracy and much better generality than is typically found in existing, research-level implementations of concurrency analyses.

Konstanz, Univ., Diplomarb., 2004.

This dissertation consists of four studies examining two constructs related to time orientation in organizations: polychronicity and multitasking. The first study investigates the internal structure of polychronicity and its external correlates in a sample of undergraduate students (N = 732). Results converge to support a one-factor model and finds measures of polychronicity to be significantly related to extraversion, agreeableness, and openness to experience. The second study quantitatively reviews the existing research examining the relationship between polychronicity and the Big Five factors of personality. Results reveal a significant relationship between extraversion and openness to experience across studies. Studies three and four examine the usefulness of multitasking ability in the prediction of work related criteria using two organizational samples (N = 175 and 119, respectively). Multitasking ability demonstrated predictive validity, however the incremental validity over that of traditional predictors (i.e., cognitive ability and the Big Five factors of personality) was minimal. The relationships between multitasking ability, polychronicity, and other individual differences were also investigated. Polychronicity and multitasking ability proved to be distinct constructs demonstrating differential relationships with cognitive ability, personality, and performance. Results provided support for multitasking performance as a mediator in the relationship between multitasking ability and overall job performance. Additionally, polychronicity moderated the relationship between multitasking ability and both ratings of multitasking performance and overall job performance in Study four. Clarification of the factor structure of polychronicity and its correlates will facilitate future research in the time orientation literature. Results from two organizational samples point to work related measures of multitasking ability as a worthwhile tool for predicting the performance of job applicants.

abstract: The choices of an operator under heavy cognitive load are potentially critical to overall safety and performance. Such conditions are common when technological failures arise, and the operator is forced into multi-task situations. Task switching choice was examined in an effort to both validate previous work concerning a model of task overload management and address unresolved matters related to visual sampling. Using the Multi-Attribute Task Battery and eye tracking, the experiment studied any influence of task priority and difficulty. Continuous visual attention measurements captured attentional switches that do not manifest into behaviors but may provide insight into task switching choice. Difficulty was found to have an influence on task switching behavior; however, priority was not. Instead, priority may affect time spent on a task rather than strictly choice. Eye measures revealed some moderate connections between time spent dwelling on a task and subjective interest. The implication of this, as well as eye tracking used to validate a model of task overload management as a whole, is discussed. / Dissertation/Thesis / Masters Thesis Human Systems Engineering 2020