The allocation of attention and executive control is at the center of our understanding of how information is selected from the world. This in turn determines the knowledge of the user with respect to the state of the world at any point in time. Here we address the issue of how external stressors influence the allocation of executive control. In particular we focus on the role of time pressure in determining how operators sequence between tasks and information sources.
Extend and validate the APEX computational model of executive control by specifying the role of executive control in cognitive processing and how control failure leads to human error in complex task environments.
Research will test the hypothesis that time pressure leads to a truncating of normal processing, leading to a first-come-first-served task allocation strategy. We pursue this by both empirical testing, by modeling, and by direct observation of brain activity. The existing APEX model of executive control developed in the Cognition Laboratory at NASA Ames will be refined and used as the basis of modeling.