Mental workload is associated with the working memory.
People use their working memory (short-term memory) to evaluate situations and decide what they want to do. The capacity of the working memory is limited. According to research, humans can hold and process only five to nine data items simultaneously. The research is summarized in the classical article by Miller (1971) "The Magical Number Seven, Plus or Minus Two.”
When operating an interactive system, the operator has at least two tasks to conduct simultaneously:
When the situation requires heavier processing, such as in overloaded screens and in multitasking, human performance decreases significantly.
Updated on 19 Jul 2016.