When two heads are better than one. Query behavior, cognitive load, search time, and task type in pairs versus individuals
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/AJIM-04-2015-0057 |
| Pages | 545-565 |
| Published date | 19 September 2016 |
| Date | 19 September 2016 |
| Author | Kyoungsik Na,Jisu Lee |
| Subject Matter | Library & information science,Information behaviour & retrieval,Information & knowledge management,Information management & governance,Information management |
When two heads are better
than one
Query behavior, cognitive load, search time,
and task type in pairs versus individuals
Kyoungsik Na
Konkuk University, Chungju, South Korea, and
Jisu Lee
RIKS at Korea University, Seoul, South Korea
Abstract
Purpose –The purpose of this paper is to explore the differences between collaborative and
individual search techniques in a scenario-based task focussed on query behavior, cognitive load,
search time, and task type about the search.
Design/methodology/approach –To help understand the influences on searching for relevant
information in pairs or individual contexts, the authors conducted an exploratory user study with 30
participants, using two search tasks completed in a controlled laboratory setting.
Findings –On the basis of the analysis, the authors found that collaborative search teams resulted in
more queries, more diverse query terms, and more varied query results compared to those working
individually. The study results indicated that the cognitive load imposed on the participants did not
differ between a collaborative search and an individual search except for the component of
performance on the NASA Task Load Index. The results further showed that the total search time was
a significant difference on average between the two conditions (i.e. individual information search and
collaborative information search) for the second task. And there were significant differences of the
mean of total search time between the two tasks for the both conditions. The authors also found that
there was no significant relationship between query behavior and the total cognitive load.
Originality/value –The findings from this study have implications for a better understanding of
collaborative search interface design, searchers’cognitive load, query behavior, and general collaborative
information search.
Keywords Collaborative search, Cognitive load, Individual search, Query behaviour, Search time,
Task type
Paper type Research paper
1. Introduction
Due to the advance of information and communication technology (ICT), information
searching on the web has become a daily routine behavior for many people (Purce ll,
2011), and has made further collaboration easier in many work contexts, such as
academic, industry, medicine, or military settings (Foster, 2006). During the last decade,
the field of collaborative information seeking has been introduced and there is a
growing interest and an associated body of research examining the need and desire for
collaboration in information seeking, searching, and retrieval (Foster, 2006; Poltrock
et al., 2003; Yue et al., 2013; Shah, 2010a, 2013; Shah and González-Ibáñez, 2011;
González-Ibáñez et al., 2013). According to Poltrock et al. (2003), collaborative
information seeking is “the activities that a group or team of people undertakes to
identify and resolve a shared information need”(p. 239). Shah (2010b) similarly stated
Aslib Journal of Information
Management
Vol. 68 No. 5, 2016
pp. 545-565
©Emerald Group Publis hing Limited
2050-3806
DOI 10.1108/AJIM-04-2015-0057
Received 15 April 2015
Revised 25 May 2016
Accepted 25 May 2016
The current issue and full text archive of this journal is available on Emerald Insight at:
www.emeraldinsight.com/2050-3806.htm
This work was supported by the faculty research fund of Konkuk University in 2013.
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When two
heads
are better
than one
that “collaborative information seeking is a group of participants intentionally working
together in an interactive manner for a common goal”(p. 26). Foster (2006) continues by
defining collaborative information seeking as “systems and practices that would enable
individuals to collaborate during the seeking, searching, and retrieval of information”
(p. 330). Thus, both early and recent research into collaborative information seeking
highlighted the interaction between the system and humans as being aimed at
resolving a common information need by working together.
In recent years, studies have supported and, thus, developed collaborative
information search (CIS) interfaces, such as Ariadne (Twidale et al., 1997),
SearchTogether (Morris and Horvitz, 2007), Cerchiamo (Golovchinsky et al., 2008),
Coagmento (Shah, 2010c), and CollabSearch (Yue et al., 2012). Hearst (2009) stated that
“designers of Web search interfaces have learned that in order to be able to successfully
serve their highly diverse user base, they must be very careful about any complexity
that they introduce”(p. 2). However, the search interface has been mainly developed to
support an individual, rather than a collaborative, search. As information searching
becomes increasingly ubiquitous, there arises a need to identify ways to examine the
performance and effects of CIS.
Recently, different aspects of cognitive load have been studied in relation to
information science, including mental effort (Gwizdka, 2009), cognitive load
distribution (Gwizdka, 2010), query reformulation behavior (Na, 2012), and
information visualization (Huang et al., 2009), yet few studies have investigated the
ways in which cognitive load affects a searcher’s query behavior as a function of task
difficulty and performance. Investigations of the effects of cognitive load on query
behavior are motivated by both basic and applied concerns. Understanding the effects
of cognitive load on query behavior can help develop and refine CIS engines and, more
generally, human information processing.
In this study, we explored the query processes and strategies of searchers across
search task stages and sought to improve our understanding of elements affecting
cognitive load and search time in a collaborative search context. Our aim was to further
explore the relationships among searchers’query behavior, search time, and cognitive
load induced by the participants searching for relevant information in collaborative vs
individual conditions. While there is a wealth of literature on individual information
search (IIS), including how it relates to precision, relevance, user performance, or sea rch
engine retrieval performance, little research has been done on CIS in relation to the
impacts of cognitive load on query behavior and search time. The findings from this
study will have implications for search engine use, search engine interface design,
users’cognitive load, and, more generally, the CIS process.
2. Related studies
In the following section, we will review recent research in the areas of CIS, query
behavior, and cognitive load.
2.1 Collaborative search
Past information retrieval (IR) research has been focussed on an individual, rather
than a collaborative, search context. However, during the last decade, several studies
on collaborative searching have been conducted in various settings. Collaboration in
learning often occurs in educational environments (Brindley et al., 2009) as well as
in organizational settings (Morris, 2007). Recent studies have revealed that people often
collaborate when they are searching for relevant information on the web, and,
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