Resumption lag at interruptible timing might not be short in actual environment

Experiments performed in controlled environments have revealed that interruptions occurring at application switching (AS), which correspond to task breakpoints in the computer field, are more subjectively acceptable and require shorter resumption lags (RL), which indicate the cognitive cost. Therefore, in this study, we investigate RLs in uncontrolled office environment. The interruptions at more acceptable ASs were expected to show shorter RLs, because the cognitive costs of the interruption are less. However, contrary to the expected result, the RLs were longer. This implies that factors other than cognitive cost may affect interruptibility in a realistic environment.