Studying the impact of interruptions on attentional and working memory performance in younger and older adults by means of the EEG

在现代工作环境中，认知任务的中断是最令人紧张的因素之一。因此，从心理学和人体工程学的角度来看，更好地理解加工中断的神经认知基础是非常重要的。中断的特征是主要任务的暂时中止，伴随着次要任务的处理。因此，从认知心理学的角度来看，工作记忆中的注意力焦点在主要任务和中断任务之间的变化是必要的。因此，目前的研究项目主要集中在通过脑电图（EEG）测量中断情况下工作记忆过程的相关研究。此外，基于已知的与年龄相关的注意力控制功能缺陷，对年轻人（18-30岁）和老年人（55-70岁）进行比较，将为这些过程在处理中断过程中的相关性提供更精确的信息。在所有有计划的实验中，一个视觉工作记忆任务都会被一个随机顺序的次要任务打断。由于只有主要任务是基于视觉刺激的横向呈现，因此由于视觉系统的对侧组织，脑电图信号中的半球不对称（例如在α频率范围- 8-14 Hz的振荡功率）可以清楚地分配给主要任务的处理。此外，当在主要任务和中断任务之间切换时，前额-中央θ波功率（4-7 Hz）的调制被用作执行控制过程的关联。前三个实验的重点是研究中断情境下的工作记忆过程及其与已知任务特定影响因素（主要任务和中断任务的相似性、恢复主要任务时的时间灵活性、为中断做准备的可能性）的相互作用。注意力和执行认知功能在处理中断和相关实验效果中的重要性在年龄较大时应该变得越来越明显，因为这些功能通常受损。最后，在第四个实验中，使用了一个实验范式，该实验范式是针对医院的真实工作情况（一项需要将药片分配给患者姓名的工作记忆任务）。因此，获得的结果提供了更高的生态有效性，从而增加了整个项目中获得的结果与操作实践的相关性。

Interruptions in a cognitive task are among the most stressful factors in modern working environments. A better understanding of the neurocognitive basis for processing interruptions is therefore of great importance from a psychological and ergonomic perspective. Interruptions are characterized by a temporary suspension of a primary task, which is accompanied by the processing of a secondary task. From a cognitive-psychological point of view, a change of the focus of attention within working memory between a primary task and the interruption task is therefore necessary. The current research project thus focuses on the investigation of correlates of working memory processes in the context of interruptions, as measured by electroencephalography (EEG). Furthermore, a comparison between younger (18-30 years) and older subjects (55-70 years), based on known age-related deficits in attentional control functions, will provide more precise information about the relevance of these processes in the processing of interruptions. In all planned experiments, a visual working memory task will be interrupted by a secondary task in a random sequence. Since only the primary task is based on the lateral presentation of visual stimuli, hemispheric asymmetries in the EEG signal (e.g. in the power of oscillations in the alpha frequency range - 8-14 Hz) can be clearly assigned to the processing of the primary task due to the contralateral organization of the visual system. Furthermore, modulations of fronto-central theta power (4-7 Hz) are used as correlates of executive control processes when switching between primary and interruption tasks. The first three experiments focus on the investigation of working memory processes in the context of interruptions and their interaction with known task-specific influencing factors (similarity of primary and interruption task; temporal flexibility when resuming the primary task; possibility to prepare for the interruption). The importance of attentional and executive cognitive functions in the processing of interruptions and related experimental effects should become increasingly apparent at an older age, when these functions are typically impaired. Finally, in the fourth experiment an experimental paradigm is used that is oriented on a real work situation in a hospital (a working memory task requiring the assignment of tablets to patient names). The results obtained therefore offer a higher ecological validity and thus increase the relevance of the findings obtained in the overall project for operational practice.