title: The impact of mental fatigue on exploration in a complex computer task: rigidity and loss of systematic strategies.
abstract: We investigated the impact of mental fatigue on exploration in a complex computer task. The exploration behavior of participants who underwent a fatigue manipulation (N = 36) was compared with that of a control (nonfatigued) group (N = 32). A distinction was also made between participants with high or low levels of general computer experience. Results showed that fatigued participants used significantly less systematic exploration and made more errors than did nonfatigued participants. Fatigued participants with low computer experience also showed significantly more rigid behavior than did the other participants. No differences were found on the number of subtasks solved. Compared with low-experience participants, highly experienced participants showed significantly more systematic exploration, less unsystematic trial and error, solved more subtasks, and made fewer errors (marginally significant p = .056). Findings were interpreted as the result of reduced task engagement under fatigue and reduced involvement of executive control on behavior. Actual or potential applications of this research include guidelines to prevent detrimental effects of mental fatigue on exploration behavior.
authors.affiliation: Department of Work and Organizational Psychology, University of Nijmegen, P.O. Box 9104, 6500 HE Nijmegen, Netherlands. d.vanderlinden@psych.kun.nl
authors.forename: Dimitri
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: van der Linden
authors.forename: Michael
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Frese
authors.forename: Sabine
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Sonnentag
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001288:Attention / Q000502:physiology*; D003201:Computers; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008328:Man-Machine Systems; D005222:Mental Fatigue / Q000503:physiopathology*; D010364:Pattern Recognition, Visual; D011340:Problem Solving; D011930:Reaction Time; D013647:Task Performance and Analysis