A Methodological Study of Overloadx

The purpose of this research was to establish a methodology for studying stimulus overload in the psychological laboratory. It was argued that in order to maximize the conditions of overload in simulation, the dimensional criteria of maximal intensity, maximal diversity, and minimal patterning must be included in the methodology. In addition, it was suggested that the psychological phenomenon of overload be operationally defined in terms of the individual's perception of overload rather than the input-output capacity of the system. In a 3 × 2 design, 60 male and female college students performed either an overload or no overload version of a proofreading-vigilance task, a driving-memory task, or a computation-interruption task. The driving-memory task, which was intended to be most extreme on the dimensions of intensity, diversity, and patterning, was perceived as the most overloading of the three experimental tasks. This led to the conclusion that this driving-memory task represented a substantial improvement over existing methods, warranting its future use as a standard methodology.