The Effect of Planning, Strategy Learning, and Working Memory Capacity on Mental Workload

Radüntz, Thea · 2020 · Crossref

DOI: 10.1038/s41598-020-63897-6

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Summary

This study investigates the interplay between planning, strategy learning, working memory capacity, and mental workload, addressing a gap in literature where objective, continuous measures of workload have rarely been linked to these cognitive constructs. The research aims to determine whether planning imposes higher cognitive demands than working memory tasks and how individual working memory capacity influences workload during the learning and execution phases of a planning task. The study employed 21 subjects (mean age 38) who completed two tasks in counterbalanced order: the Tower of Hanoi (TOH) as a planning task and the Automated Orientation Span (AOSPAN) as a working memory task. Mental workload was objectively measured using the Dual Frequency Head Maps (DFHM) method, an electroencephalogram (EEG)-based classifier that categorizes workload into low, moderate, or high levels without requiring retraining for new subjects or tasks. The DFHM index was calculated based on frontal theta and parietal alpha band powers. Subjects were categorized into low or high working memory capacity groups based on their AOSPAN performance. Statistical analyses included Wilcoxon signed-rank tests, repeated-measures mixed ANOVA, and Friedman tests to evaluate workload, planning time, and error rates. Results confirmed that the planning task (TOH) induced significantly higher mental workload than the working memory task (AOSPAN), supporting the hypothesis that planning, as a higher-order executive function, binds more cognitive resources. During the learning phase of the TOH task, a significant interaction was found between task difficulty and working memory capacity. Subjects with higher working memory capacity exhibited a gradual decrease in mental workload as they learned the strategy, whereas those with lower capacity showed no significant change. However, this learning effect on workload disappeared during the main phase of the TOH task, where workload increased for all subjects as task difficulty escalated, regardless of working memory capacity. Performance metrics such as planning time and error rates showed only weak trends consistent with workload changes, suggesting that workload reduction in high-capacity individuals may reflect neurological efficiency gains rather than immediate behavioral performance improvements. The findings imply that working memory capacity facilitates the efficient acquisition of planning strategies, reducing the cognitive cost of learning. However, this advantage is transient; as task demands exceed the scope of learned strategies, workload converges across individuals. The study demonstrates the utility of the DFHM method for capturing instantaneous, objective mental workload, providing insights for adjusting work conditions to individual cognitive states and highlighting that subjective workload ratings may not fully capture individual differences in cognitive resource allocation.

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Topics

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• mental demand
• capacity resource theory
• cognitive capacity variation
• workload measurement
• working memory