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Who's slowing you down?
February 21, 2008Working alone may be the key to better productivity, new research suggests
You may not be aware of it - they might not be aware of it, but the people in your work environment might be slowing you down.
New research by University of Calgary, Faculty of Kinesiology researcher Dr. Tim Welsh says that regardless of their intentions, having an individual working on a different task - within your field of vision - could be enough to slow down your performance.
"Imagine a situation like a complex assembly line," said Welsh If you are doing a particular task and the person across from you is doing a different task, you'll be slowed down regardless of their performance."
The reason for this is a built-in response-interpretation mechanism that is hard-wired into our central nervous systems. If we see someone performing a task we automatically imagine ourselves performing that task. This behaviour is part of our mirror neuron system.
The findings from Welsh's latest work on the topic are founding a paper titled "Seeing vs. believing: Is believing sufficient to activate the processes of response co-representation?" published in the December, 2007 issue of the Journal of Human Movement Science.
His set-up involved an individual performing a simple computer task alone, then with a partner performing a different but related task, and alone again after being told that the partner was going to continue to perform the task in another room.
"When an individual could see their partner actually performing the task, the partner's performance interfered with their own performance, causing them to perform more slowly," Welsh explained. "When the partner left the room and the individual could only see the results of the partner's action - not the action itself - the interference effect was no longer observed and performance improved. We believe it's because the individual no longer represented - or modeled - their partners' actions, even though they could see the results of these actions."
Welsh says his research could have implications for some industrial work settings.
"In a situation where speed and accuracy in performing a certain task are important, I think an argument could be made for a work setting in which people work in isolation - or at least with people who doing very similar tasks," he said. "That will remove the involuntary modeling of another's behaviour, potentially improving speed and likely accuracy."
University of Calgary
"Imagine a situation like a complex assembly line," said Welsh If you are doing a particular task and the person across from you is doing a different task, you'll be slowed down regardless of their performance."
The reason for this is a built-in response-interpretation mechanism that is hard-wired into our central nervous systems. If we see someone performing a task we automatically imagine ourselves performing that task. This behaviour is part of our mirror neuron system.
The findings from Welsh's latest work on the topic are founding a paper titled "Seeing vs. believing: Is believing sufficient to activate the processes of response co-representation?" published in the December, 2007 issue of the Journal of Human Movement Science.
His set-up involved an individual performing a simple computer task alone, then with a partner performing a different but related task, and alone again after being told that the partner was going to continue to perform the task in another room.
"When an individual could see their partner actually performing the task, the partner's performance interfered with their own performance, causing them to perform more slowly," Welsh explained. "When the partner left the room and the individual could only see the results of the partner's action - not the action itself - the interference effect was no longer observed and performance improved. We believe it's because the individual no longer represented - or modeled - their partners' actions, even though they could see the results of these actions."
Welsh says his research could have implications for some industrial work settings.
"In a situation where speed and accuracy in performing a certain task are important, I think an argument could be made for a work setting in which people work in isolation - or at least with people who doing very similar tasks," he said. "That will remove the involuntary modeling of another's behaviour, potentially improving speed and likely accuracy."
University of Calgary
Work Performance Current Events and Work Performance News RSSIowa State study finds high volume video gamers have more difficulty staying attentive
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105-Day Mars Simulation: U.S. studies focus on improving work performance
From March 31 to July 14, a six-man international crew called an isolation chamber in Moscow their home. The crew, composed of four Russians and two Europeans, simulated a 105-day Mars mission full of experiments and realistic mission scenarios, including emergency situations and 20-minute communications delays.
Minor league hockey players unable to identify concussion symptoms, study says
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Physicians report they need more sleep
In a new survey, physicians report they are not getting the sleep they need to function at their best and current work schedules may contribute to their inadequate sleep.
New survey uncovers how insomnia affects job performance and safety
Alertness Solutions presented results of a new survey this week at the annual SLEEP meeting showing the significant impact our 24/7 culture is having on healthcare professionals' job performance and patient safety.
Bipolar disorder exacts twice depression's toll in workplace
Bipolar disorder costs twice as much in lost productivity as major depressive disorder, a study funded by the National Institutes of Health's (NIH) National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) has found.
Blowing away ethnic stereotyping in tests
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24 Hours Of Misery For Heartburn Sufferers - Sex And Work Are Major Casualties
21 October 2002 - Geneva, Switzerland - New research shows that reflux disease (GERD), which causes heartburn, leads to misery around the clock for many sufferers. The effects of the disease are much more serious than previously thought, impacting not only on eating and drinking habits but also on work performance, social activities and even sex. Announced today at the United European Gastroenterology Week (UEGW), results from new research1 involving over 800 sufferers from around the world reveals the true impact of reflux disease and heartburn on patients' quality of life. Professor Roger Jones, a UK-based primary care practitioner and Chair
Wage cuts uncommon in Sweden
Wage cuts are much less common in Sweden than in other countries. This is shown in a report from the IFAU in Sweden (Institute for Labour Market Policy Evaluation) "Wage Policy and Endogenous Wage Rigidity: A Representative View from the Inside" by Jonas Agell and Helge Bennmarker. The researchers trace this lack of flexibility to a combination of institutional factors in Sweden (job protection legislation and the structure of collective agreements) and more general factors that have to do with the fact that many companies fear that wage flexibility and lowered wages would lead to a decline in work morale and a high turnover of personnel. The report is based on a questionnaire answered by 8
Getting better can be dangerous
Work performance and safety at work have been found to suffer due to both the symptoms of stress related disorders and as a result of the medication taken to treat these conditions. These are the findings of a study reported today, Wednesday 4 September 2002, at The British Psychological Society Division of Health Psychology Annual Conference, Sheffield Hallam University, by Cheryl Haslam, Sarah Hastings, Sue Brown and Roger Haslam of Brunel University and the Health and Safety Ergonomics Unit, Loughborough University. The number of people suffering with stress related disorders such as depression and anxiety has increased in recent years leading to extensive use of medication to treat these
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