Document Type
Thesis
Date of Award
5-31-1982
Degree Name
Master of Science in Industrial Engineering - (M.S.)
Department
Industrial and Management Engineering
First Advisor
Howard Gage
Abstract
This thesis consists of an investigation of the "mental workload" involved in a visual inspection task. A short-term laboratory experiment was conducted on twenty test subjects to study the effects of three typical job-related factors encountered in mental workload situations: load stress, time stress, and motivation. These effects were assessed through the subjects' performances as measured by speed and accuracy data. The analysis of the results revealed that an increase in load stress deteriorates both speed and accuracy, whereas time stress improves speed but only at the expense of accuracy. The expected positive influence of motivational factor (cash prizes) was not observed on accuracy data.
Although limited in scope, this experiment was important in the sense that it contributes to an overall understanding of this phenomenon and sets priorities for future research in this area of application. Several recommendations for needed future research are given in the last section of the thesis.
Recommended Citation
Alfandari, Michel, "Investigation of mental workload in a visual inspection task" (1982). Theses. 3587.
https://digitalcommons.njit.edu/theses/3587
