Interruption Management: The Use of Attention-Directing Tactile Cues

Hopp, Pamela J.; Smith, C. A. P.; Clegg, Benjamin A.; Heggestad, Eric D. · 2005 · Human Factors The Journal of the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society

DOI: 10.1518/0018720053653884

archive: archived pipeline: cataloged verified

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Summary

This study investigates whether attention-directing tactile cues improve interruption management in multitasking environments, addressing the limitations of visual and auditory cues which can cause fatigue or distraction. The researchers aimed to determine if tactile signals could effectively prompt users to switch attention to secondary tasks without disrupting primary task performance. The motivation stems from the need for efficient interruption handling in high-stakes domains like aviation, where failure to attend to interrupting stimuli can have severe consequences. The experiment employed a two-group posttest-only randomized design with 61 undergraduate participants. Participants performed a 30-minute session involving a continuous primary task (aircraft monitoring on a central screen) and an intermittent secondary task (gauge reading on side screens outside peripheral vision). The treatment group (n=29) wore a vest with pager buzzers that vibrated on the shoulder corresponding to the side of the interrupting task, signaling its arrival and location. The control group (n=32) received no tactile cues and had to remember to visually scan the side screens for interruptions. Performance was measured by response rates, response times, and error rates for both tasks, along with subjective workload assessments. Results indicated that tactile cues significantly improved performance on the secondary gauge-reading task. The treatment group attempted a significantly higher proportion of gauge questions (94% vs. 86%) and responded significantly faster (5.92 seconds vs. 6.74 seconds) than the control group. However, there were no significant differences between groups in error rates for the gauge task, nor in performance metrics for the primary aircraft-monitoring task, including hit rates, misses, false alarms, and correct rejections. Signal detection theory analysis confirmed that both groups exhibited equal sensitivity and bias in the primary task. Additionally, subjective workload perceptions did not differ significantly between the groups, and participants in the treatment group rated the tactile cues as helpful and low in annoyance. The findings suggest that directional tactile cues are an effective mechanism for managing interruptions, allowing users to direct attention to secondary tasks more efficiently without compromising primary task performance or increasing perceived workload. The study concludes that tactile cues may transform task switching from a memory-dependent process to an event-based one, reducing cognitive load. The authors recommend further exploration of tactile cues in various visual, interrupt-laden environments, such as aviation and user-interface design, and suggest future research examine cues that convey additional information about task urgency and nature.

Key finding

Participants receiving tactile cues for interrupting tasks responded to more interruptions and responded faster than those without cues, without any negative impact on primary task performance or subjective workload.

Methodology

lab_experiment

Sample size: 61

Provenance

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Summary generated by qwen3.6-27b-prismaquant on 2026-06-10; verification: verified.

Topics

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• haptic feedback
• multisensory crossmodal
• multimodal feedback