Attention and programmer characteristics in prospective memory: an investigation of habit intrusion error in programmer multitasking

Motivation -- To examine prospective memory (ProM) performance in programmer multitasking emphasizing how attention, time orientation, and expertise affect ProM performance. Research approach -- An experimental paradigm was developed to perform ProM research under the situations that occasionally require individuals to face naturalistic atypical actions. A total of 108 computer science and engineering students participated in the experiment. Findings/Design -- Attention played a crucial role in multitasking and ProM performance. Polychrons exhibited lesser degree of ProM performance failure than monochrons whereas expertise did not have an effect. Results showed that out of overall ProM performance failure 16.22% were of habit intrusion errors occurring 1.75 times in every 10 valid click responses of ProM task. Moreover, experts demonstrated superior performance over novices in programming. Research limitations/Implications -- The experiment was conducted in a specific context of programmer multitasking. The results should not be implied to assert that polychrons would have better performance in any ProM task in general. Originality/Value -- The research makes a contribution by reporting a new experimental paradigm to capture ProM error of habit intrusion. This atypical action paradigm allows ProM research to be carried out under the situations that occasionally require individuals to face atypical actions. Take away message -- Programmers are vulnerable to habit intrusion errors.