'Distraction test' for job seekers
Updated on 31 May 2007
Employers could soon be subjecting job candidates to a new "distraction test" devised by psychologists.
The test, which involves identifying letters on a computer screen, provides an objective measure of how easily put off a person is.
Researchers believe that, like psychometric testing, it could help employers recruit the right people - especially in fields where distraction can lead to accidents.
Driving a bus, flying a plane or performing surgery are all jobs where focused attention is crucial and distraction levels high. To work safely, people in these occupations must be able to ignore the distracting influences around them.
Professor Nilli Lavie, who led the team which developed the new test at University College London, said: "When you are easily distracted, you are more liable to do things like put your keys in the fridge or call out 'come in' when answering the phone.
"This test could act as another form of psychometric testing for employers who want to know how focused the staff they are hiring are likely to be."
The test was tried out on 61 volunteers. It involved finding the odd-one-out in a circular display of letters flashed up on a computer screen. At the same time, letters appeared outside the circle to act as a distraction.
Participants had to press the relevant key when they spotted the odd letter. The scientists rated their distraction susceptibility by measuring their reaction time and accuracy.
"People come away from our test thinking they've done really well and haven't been distracted at all when in fact their response times increase and they tend to make more mistakes; showing that they have been distracted," said Prof Lavie. "So the test is objective and there's no way of doctoring the results."
The findings, published in the journal Psychological Science, showed that whether they were easily distracted or not, volunteers were far less distracted when performing more difficult tasks.
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