Abstract
Repeating an errorfull operation is a characteristic phenomenon with older users of IT-based artifacts. Using a simple Kanji-selection task, five experiments were executed to investigate occurrence factors of this phenomenon. Because the dual-task condition caused young adults to make error repetitions in preceding experiments, some new conditions on attention and/or working memory were introduced. The results showed that error repetitions were elicited with task switching condition, but not with "choose the wrong answer" condition, which was enough complicated and difficult, both with younger and older adults (Exp.1-4). These results were confirmed in Exp. 5 in which individual differences of a task-switching test affected error repetitions. These results indicated that the necessity of maintaining multiple goals in working memory, which was common under the task-switching condition and the dual-task condition, should be a main factor for the error-repetition phenomenon, and some implications for cognitive design of IT-based artifacts were discussed.
