UI professor's research examines task switching in space

It's not unusual for workers to make mistakes when switching from one task to another because they're still thinking about the first task and not fully focused on the second.

For most people-accountants, secretaries, public relations writers-we fix the mistake and move on.

But it's a different story if an Artemis astronaut makes a mistake while heading to the moon. Or firefighters, or surgeons, or anyone else working in a high-risk occupation.

"With most of us, if we don't transition super cleanly, it's no big deal," says Daniel Newton, assistant professor of management and entrepreneurship in the University of Iowa's Tippie College of Business. "But in some jobs, it could be disastrous."

To reduce the likelihood of such a catastrophe on Artemis moon shots or other long space missions, Newton works with NASA to find out how people make that switch mentally and how they can help astronauts more readily refocus their attention on their new task. With the help of a $900,000 grant from the space agency, he's studied the work engagement of astronauts and cosmonauts who work on the International Space Station (ISS), and other crews who live in long-term isolation facilities in Houston and Moscow.

Research has shown that when a person switches from one engaging task to another, they often don't completely make the switch mentally because they're still thinking about the previous task. Newton refers to this as residual engagement and says it can lead to mistakes in the subsequent task that the worker isn't completely focused on yet.

In a hyper-controlled atmosphere like a space capsule, he says, even the most pedestrian of tasks could lead a distracted crew member to push the wrong button.

Ultimately, Newton's work is being used to plan long-duration space missions on the ISS and on a mission to Mars, which is projected to take as long as two years.

"It takes a lot of really smart people to put an astronaut in space," Newton says. "What we're looking at is, once you get them in space, how do you keep them functioning effectively and staying motivated on a long-duration mission."

Some of the tasks he questions astronauts about are questions business professors don't usually get to ask research subjects: "How do you transition out of a spacewalk?" for instance. He also asks them about more mundane tasks, such as transitioning to another task after dumping out a load of wastewater.

Much of his research also has practical applications for the typical office worker. In one paper, Newton and his co-authors suggest that workers perform more engaging tasks early in the day, when they have plenty of energy to focus on the work. He says many workers start their day checking emails, which is typically a low-energy activity and not terribly engaging.

"Our findings suggest that when individuals invest their energies in an engaging task, they not only experience positive feelings but are also more engaged in a subsequent task and perform that task more effectively," he writes.

Media contact: Tom Snee, 319-384-0010 (o); 319-541-8434 (c); [email protected]