Skip to main content
Log in

Unterbrechungen bei der Arbeit und Multitasking in der modernen Arbeitswelt — Konzepte, Auswirkungen und Implikationen für Arbeitsgestaltung und Forschung

Work interruptions and multitasking in the modern world of work — concepts, effects and implications for work design and research

  • Published:
Zentralblatt für Arbeitsmedizin, Arbeitsschutz und Ergonomie Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Zusammenfassung

Häufige Arbeitsunterbrechungen und Multitasking sind wesentliche Merkmale der modernen „beschleunigten“ Arbeitswelt. Im folgenden Beitrag wird eine Übersicht zum Stand der Forschung dieser beiden, eng miteinander verbundenen Phänomene gegeben. Dabei werden vor allem Erkenntnisse über limitierte Verarbeitungsressourcen des Zentralnervensystems auf der Grundlage moderner Ressourcenkonzepte berücksichtigt sowie mögliche Konsequenzen für Leistungsfähigkeit und Gesundheit des Menschen diskutiert. Auf Grundlage der vorliegenden Übersicht sollen abschließend einige Schlussfolgerungen für Arbeitsgestaltung und arbeitsmedizinische Forschung abgeleitet werden.

Abstract

Frequent work interruptions and multitasking are important features of the modern “accelerated” world of work. In this article we will give a survey about the state of the art of both strongly related phenomenons. Particularly insights about limited processing resources of the central nervous system on the basis of modern resource concepts will be considered and possible consequences for human performance capacities and health will be discussed. Finally, some implications for work design and occupational-medical research will be derived.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Literaturverzeichnis

  • Adams MJ, Pew RW (1990). Situational Awareness in the Commercial Aircraft Cockpit. New York: Instiute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE)

    Google Scholar 

  • Altmann EM, Trafton JG (2002). Memory for goals: an activation-based model. Cognitive Science 26(1), 39–83

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Baltes P (1999). On the incomplete architecture of human ontogeny. Zeitschrift für Gerontologie und Gerietrie 32(2), 1–1

    Google Scholar 

  • BIBB-BAuA Erwerbstätigenerhebung 2006, www.baua.de/arbeitsbedingungen http://www.bibb.de/de/26738.htm

  • Brandimonte M, Einstein GO (1996). Prospective Memory: Theory and Application. Mahwah, Erlbaum

    Google Scholar 

  • Czerwinski M, Horvitz E (2002). An investigation of memory for daily computing events. In: X. Faulkner, J Finlay, F Detienne (Hrsg.), People and Computers, XVI — Memprable yet Invisible: Proceedings of HCI. London: Springer Verlag, 229–246

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Csikszentmihalyi M (2000). Das Flow Erlebnis. Jenseits von Angst und Langeweile im Tun aufgehen. Klett Cotta Verlag Stuttgart, 8. Auflage

    Google Scholar 

  • Cellier JM, Eyrolle H (1992). Interference between Switched Tasks. Ergonomics 35(1), 25–36

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cohen S (1980). Aftereffects of Stress on Human-Performance and Social-Behavior — a Review of Research and Theory. Psychological Bulletin 88(1), 82–108

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Dreher J-C, Koechlin E, Tierney M, Grafman J (2008). Damage to the fronto-polar cortex is associated with impaired multitasking. PloS ONE, 3/9, 1–9

    Google Scholar 

  • Drösser CH (2003). Internet: Aus dem Leben gemailt. Die Zeit: 32 http://pdf.zeit.de/2003/32/T-Always_online.pdf

  • Dux PE, Tombu MN, Harrison S, Rogers BP, Tong F, Mrois R (2009). Training improves multitasking performance by increasing the speed of information processing in human prefrontal cortex. Neuron 63, 127–138 www.eurofound.europa.eu/pubdocs/2006/98/en/2/ef06989en.pdf

    Article  PubMed Central  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Frese & Zapf (1994). Action as the core of work psychology: A German approach. In: Tirandis HC, Dunnette MD, Hough LM. Handbook of industrial and organizational psychology. Palo Alto, CA: Consulting Psychologist Press. Second ed. 4: 271–340

    Google Scholar 

  • Hacker & Richter (1984). Psychische Fehlbeanspruchung: Psychische Ermüdung, Monotonie, Sättigung und Stress. Axel Springer Verlag

  • Hacker W (1992). Expertenkönnen: Erkennen und Vermitteln. Göttingen, VAP

    Google Scholar 

  • Hacker (2005). Allgemeine Arbeitspsychologie. Psychische Regulation von Wissens-, Denk- und körperlicher Arbeit. Bern, Huber & Lang Verlag

    Google Scholar 

  • Hallowell EM, Ratey J (1999). Zwanghaft zerstreut: Die Unfähigkeit aufmerksam zu sein. Rowohlt Taschenbuchverlag

  • Hallowell EM, Ratey J (2005). Delivered from Distriction: Getting The Most Out Of Life With Attention Defict Disorder, Ballatine New York

    Google Scholar 

  • Hecht TD, Allen NJ (2005). Exploring links between polychronicity and well-being from the perspective of person-job fit: Does it matter if you prefer to do only one thing at time? Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes 98, 155–178

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Henning RA, Strümpell J (1989). Micro break Length, Performance, and Stress in a Data-Entry Task. Ergonomics 32(7), 855–864

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Hodgetts HM, Jones DM (2006). Interruption of the tower of London task: Support for a goal-activation approach. J Experi Psych-General 135(1), 103–115

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hudson JM, Christensen J, Kellogg WA, Erickson T (2002). “I’d be overhelmed, but it’s just one more thing to do”: Availability and interruption in research management. CHI 2002 4(1), 97–104

    Google Scholar 

  • Jett QR, George JM (2003). Work interrupted: A closer look at the role of interruptions in organizational life. Academy of Management Review 28(3), 494–507

    Google Scholar 

  • John BE, Gray WD (1995). “Turtorial 25 Notes: GOMS Analysis for Parallel Activities.” CHI 2002

  • Kahnemann D (1992). Attention and effort. -Engelwood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall

    Google Scholar 

  • Kane MJ, Engle RW (2002). The role of prefrontal cortex in working-memory capacity, executive attention, and general fluid intelligence: An individual-differences perspective. Psychonomic Bulletin & Review, 9(4), 637–671

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kieras DE, Meyer DE, Ballas JA, Lauber E (2000). Modern Computational Perspectives on Executive Mental Processes and Cognitive Control: Where to from here? In: Monsell S, Driver J (Hrgs.), Control of Cognitive Processes: Attention and Performance XVIII: 681–712

  • Kirsh D (2000). A few thoughts on cognitive overload. Intellecta 30(1), 19–51

    Google Scholar 

  • Lee FJ, Taatgen NA (2002). Multitasking as Skill Acquisition http://www.ai.rug.nl/~niels/publications/CogSci2002Final.pdf

  • Leitner K, Lüders E, Greiner B, Ducki A, Niedermeier R, Volpert W (1993). Analyse psychischer Anforderungen und Belastungen in der Büroarbeit — Das RHIA/VERA-Büro-Verfahren Handbuch. Hogrefe Verlag Göttingen

    Google Scholar 

  • Mark G, Gonzalez VM, Harris J (2005). No Task Left Behind? Examining the Nature of Fragmented Work. CHI 2005 Portland OR USA

  • Mark G, Gudith D, Klocke U (2008). The cost of interrupted work: more speed and stress. CHI 2008

  • McFarlane DC (2002). Comparison of four primary methods for coordinating the interruption of people in Human-Computer Interaction. Human-Computer Interaction 17(1), 63–139

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Meyer DE, Kieras DE (1997). EPIC — A computational theory of executive cognitive processes and multiple task performance: Part 1. Basic mechanismus. Psych. Review 104, 3–65

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Meyer DE, Kieras DE (1997). EPIC — A computational theory of executive cognitive processes and multiple task performance: Part 2. Accounts of psychological refractory-period phenomena. Psych. Review 104, 749–791

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Moser K, Preising K, Göritz AS, Paul K (2002). Informationsüberflutung durch neue Medien. Schriftenreihe der Bundesanstalt für Arbeitsschutz und Arbeitsmedizin Dortmund

  • Miyata Y, Norman DA (1986). Psychological Issues in Support of Multiple Activities. In: Norman DA, Draper SW (Eds.), User Centered System Design. Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates 265–284

    Google Scholar 

  • Navon D, Gopher D (1979). On the economy of the human information processing system. Psych. Review 86, 214–255

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Norman D, Bobrow D (1975). On data-limited and resource-limited processing. Journal of Cognitive Psychology 7, 44–60

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Norman D, Bobrow D (1976). On the analysis of performance operating characteristics. Psych. Review 6, 508–510

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • O’Connail, Froehlich (1995). Timespaxe in the workplace: Dealing with interruptions. CHI’95, 262–263

  • Pashler H, O’Brien S (1993). Dual-task interference and the cerebal hemispheres. J Exp Psychol Hum Percept Perform 19(2), 315–330

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Perlow LA (1999). The time famine: Toward a sociology of work time. Admin. Science Quarterly 44, 57–81

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Pöppel E (1999). www.heise.de/tp/r4/artikel/2/2651/1.html

  • Preece J, Rogers Y, Sharp H, Benyon D, Holland S, Carey T (1994). Human-Computer Interaction. Reading, MA: Addison-Wesley Publishing Company.

    Google Scholar 

  • Rosen Ch (2008). The Myth of Multitasking. The New Atlantis — A Journal of Technology and Society, 20, 105–110

    Google Scholar 

  • Rubinstein JS, Meyer DE, Evans JE (2001). Executive Control of Cognitive Processes in Task Switching. J of Experimental Psych.: Human Perception and Perform. 27(4), 763–798

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Rutenberg J v. (2006). Der Fluch der Unterbrechung. Die Zeit 2006. 46. Auflage

  • Salthouse (1990). Working memory as a processing resource in cognitive aging. Developmental Review 10(1), 101–124

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Salvucci DD (2005). A multitasking general executive for compound continuous tasks. Cognitive Science 29, 457–492

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Salvucci DD & Taatgen NA (2008). Threaded Cognition: A Integrated Theory of concurrent multitasking. Psychological Review 115(1), 101–130

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Sproull LS (1984). The nature of managerial attention. Advances in Information Processing in Organizations 1, 9–27

    Google Scholar 

  • Weißgerber B, Ertel M, Pech E (2010). Umgang mit Informationsmengen. In Windemuth D (Hrsg.), Praxishandbuch Psychische Belastungen im Beruf. Wiesbaden: Universum Verlag

    Google Scholar 

  • Wickens CD (1989). The structure of attentional resources, In: Nickerson R (Ed.), Attention and Performance VIII, Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Erlbaum, 239–257

    Google Scholar 

  • Wickens CD (1984). Processing resources in Attention, In: Parasuraman R & Davies R (Eds.), Varieties in Attention. New York: Academic Press, 63–101

    Google Scholar 

  • Wickens CD (1991). Processing resources in attention, In: Damos DL (Ed.), Multiple-task performance. London, Washington D.C.: Tayler and Francis

    Google Scholar 

  • Wickens CD (2004). Multiple Resource Time sharing Mode. In: Stanton N, Hedge A, Brookhuis K, Salas E, Hendrick HW, Handbook of Human Factors and Ergonomics Methods. CRC Press London, United Kingdom

    Google Scholar 

  • Young KS (1998). Caught in the Net: How to Recognize the Signs of Internet Addiction — and a Winning Strategy for Recovery: Wiley, CDA

    Google Scholar 

  • Zapf D, Semmer NK (2004). Stress und Gesundheit in Organisationen. In: Schuler H (Hrsg.), Enzyklopädie der Psychologie Themenbereich D Serie III Band 3 Organisationspsychologie, 2. Auflage, Hogrefe Verlag Göttingen, 1001–1112

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Freude, G., Ullsperger, P. Unterbrechungen bei der Arbeit und Multitasking in der modernen Arbeitswelt — Konzepte, Auswirkungen und Implikationen für Arbeitsgestaltung und Forschung. Zbl Arbeitsmed 60, 120–128 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF03344268

Download citation

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF03344268

Schlüsselwörter

Key words

Navigation