Content area
In this dissertation, I take an experimental approach to investigate how visual and auditory sensory interruptions affect psychological and behavioral outcomes. In study one, I use a laboratory experiment to test the effects of interruption type (auditory or visual), interruption delivery order, and interruption delivery channel (virtual or environmental) on psychological (self-efficacy) and behavioral (task score and completion time) outcomes. I found that the order and type of interruption affect psychological and behavioral outcomes when delivered via the environment but not for virtual interruptions. In study two, I further investigated interruptions in an exclusively virtual setting and added multiple interruptions to explore the longitudinal effects of the order and frequency of sensory interruptions, adding exhaustion as a psychological outcome to assess the longitudinal effects. I found that exhaustion increased with exposure to multiple interruptions and found a desensitization effect for the dependent variables. Overall, I found that while environmental interruptions have a negative effect, virtual interruptions have no negative effect on behavioral or psychological outcomes, even with the use of multiple interruptions.