Exploring the Effect of Mental Demand in Web Searches

This pilot study explored the effect of mental demand on a Web searcher`s thoughts, emotions, efforts, and performance in Web searches in order to address whether or not there is any difference between searchers exposed to mental demand manipulation and searchers not exposed. Research data were collected via think-aloud protocol (TAP) with a dual-task in experiments and interviews with 10 subjects who participated in this study. For the searcher`s thoughts, relevance judgment was found to be hindered by mental demand. For the searcher`s emotions, the experimental group was more frustrated than the control group. With respect to the searcher`s efforts, searchers for the experimental group with mental demand manipulation were more likely to spend more time, make fewer queries, and visit fewer pages but work harder to find more relevant information that they needed. Lastly, with regard to the searcher`s performance, it is likely that performance was highly dependent upon the completion of the search tasks for both groups. The NASA-TLX six components and cognitive load scores of searchers did not make a significant difference in the outcome. The findings support the use of a dual-task methodology as a promising approach for the assessment of cognitive load induced by complex Web searches.