Can awareness, task focus and task environment correspond?
Research now is becoming available that explores the “fit” between workers and their environment. Cognitive scientists tell us that we bring to any project or problem a rich background of relevant knowledge. This mental “conceptual context” has a particular organization, and there are efficient and inefficient ways to access its information. Furthermore, much of these contexts remain outside awareness, in “unconscious processing.” But even while lying just behind awareness, this knowledge provides a backdrop for completing projects. Although by definition we remain unaware of the broader details provided by our unconscious information, we do notice how much harder or easier the interaction with our awareness is dependant upon our projects complexity. For example, when we engage in a difficult project, the necessary interaction between our background knowledge and its application to the work at hand may strain our ability to participate in a concurrent conversation (multi-task). Within
