Queuing Network Modeling of a Real-Time Psychophysiological Index of Mental Workload—P300 Amplitude in Event-Related Potential (ERP)

The P300 amplitude of a secondary task is found to decrease in dual task situations compared with the corresponding single task situation of performing the secondary task alone, and is regarded as an effective real-time index of mental workload. In this article we describe a successful extension and application of the queueing network human performance model to quantify and model this major finding in P300, based on the neurophysiological mechanisms of P300. A comparison of the simulation results of the model with the corresponding experimental results in the literature indicates that the model quantifies human performance and the change of P300 amplitude in single and dual task conditions accurately. The model has not only a solid basis in its biological mechanism, but also potential value in real time workload prediction and application. Further developments of the model in simulating other dimensions of mental workload and its potential applications in adaptive system design are discussed.

[1]  W. R. Foster,et al.  Characteristic firing behavior of cell types in the cardiorespiratory region of the nucleus tractus solitarii of the rat , 1993, Brain Research.

[2]  Yili Liu,et al.  Modeling Human Transcription Typing with Queuing Network-Model Human Processor (QN-MHP) , 2004 .

[3]  Mark S. Gilzenrat,et al.  The role of the locus coeruleus in mediating the attentional blink: a neurocomputational theory. , 2005, Journal of experimental psychology. General.

[4]  Jonathan D. Cohen,et al.  Decision making, the P3, and the locus coeruleus-norepinephrine system. , 2005, Psychological bulletin.

[5]  D. McCandless.  Fundamental neuroscience , 1997, Metabolic Brain Disease.

[6]  William H. Levison,et al.  A Model for Mental Workload in Tasks Requiring Continuous Information Processing , 1979 .

[7]  Yili Liu,et al.  Queueing network modeling of human performance of concurrent spatial and verbal tasks , 1994, IEEE Trans. Syst. Man Cybern. Part A.

[8]  P. Spano,et al.  A simple procedure for calculating the synthesis rate of norepinephrine, dopamine and serotonin in rat brain. , 1971, The Journal of pharmacology and experimental therapeutics.

[9]  M. Rugg,et al.  Electrophysiology of Mind. , 1996 .

[10]  Yili Liu,et al.  Modeling Psychological Refractory Period (PRP) and Practice Effect on PRP with Queuing Networks and Reinforcement Learning Algorithms , 2004, ICCM.

[11]  William B. Rouse,et al.  Modeling the dynamics of mental workload and human performance in complex systems , 1993, IEEE Trans. Syst. Man Cybern..

[12]  Yili Liu,et al.  Modeling human performance using the queuing network-model human processor (QN-MHP) , 2002 .

[13]  Kevin Corker,et al.  Engineering-Based Approaches to Human Performance Modeling , 1989 .

[14]  G. Salvendy,et al.  Review and reappraisal of modelling and predicting mental workload in single- and multi-task environments , 2000 .

[15]  I. K. Wood,et al.  Neuroscience: Exploring the brain , 1996 .

[16]  Yili Liu,et al.  Queueing Network-Model Human Processor (QN-MHP): A computational architecture for multitask performance in human-machine systems , 2006, TCHI.

[17]  Raja Parasuraman,et al.  Event-related brain potentials and human factors research. , 1990 .

[18]  P. Nunez,et al.  Electric fields of the brain , 1981 .

[19]  M. Paradiso,et al.  Neuroscience: Exploring the brain, 3rd ed. , 2007 .

[20]  Ravi S. Adapathya,et al.  Strategic Behavior, Workload, and Performance in Task Scheduling , 1991 .

[21]  E. Donchin,et al.  Performance of concurrent tasks: a psychophysiological analysis of the reciprocity of information-processing resources. , 1983, Science.

[22]  K. Preston White,et al.  Systems engineering models of human-machine interaction , 1981, Proceedings of the IEEE.

[23]  J. E. Skinner,et al.  Chemical dependencies of learning in the rabbit olfactory bulb: acquisition of the transient spatial pattern change depends on norepinephrine. , 1986, Behavioral neuroscience.

[24]  Jonathan D. Cohen,et al.  An integrative theory of locus coeruleus-norepinephrine function: adaptive gain and optimal performance. , 2005, Annual review of neuroscience.

[25]  R. Pearlstein,et al.  Effect of intracerebral norepinephrine depletion on outcome from severe forebrain ischemia in the rat , 1999, Brain Research.

[26]  Y Liu,et al.  Queueing network modeling of elementary mental processes. , 1996, Psychological review.

[27]  Victor A. Riley,et al.  W/INDEX: A Predictive Model of Operator Workload , 1989 .

[28]  E. Donchin.  Event-related Brain Potentials: A Tool in the Study of Human Information Processing , 1979 .