Interruption Type and Quantity of Information: Effects on Performance and Attention Allocation

Abstract

Interruptions are an unavoidable part of everyday life that can have a negative impact on behavior and attention. One of the most common types of interruptions are those from cellphones. Cellphone interruptions are especially disruptive during tasks that require continuous attention. While research on cellphone interruptions have confirmed their detrimental effects, little is known about the effects of the type of cellphone interruption, particularly in terms of the nature and amount of data present in the interruption. A large amount of data – also known as clutter or data overload – has been known to lead to performance decrements in a variety of contexts. The goal of this study is to analyze how the nature and amount of data in cellphone interruptions interact to affect performance and attention allocation when studying and recalling information. The first hypothesis was that interruptions of the same nature as the main task are more disruptive. The second hypothesis was that more data will be more detrimental to performance and attention. Attention was tracked by means of an eye tracker. Participants were given material to read and study and were interrupted during that task by a cell phone notification that had either text or image data, and either a low or high amount of data, or not interrupted at all. Each participant experienced all five experimental conditions and was asked to complete a quiz following the study of the material. Results showed that performance was unaffected by the different types of interruptions; however, the eye tracking data provided more insight and showed that participants tended to have more trouble resuming their task after the interruption. The results confirm the detrimental effects of interruptions when learning and recalling information and support the use of better design improvements to help users return to their primary tasks after an interruption.