Modularity versus response selection bottleneck: The cause for dual-task costs

2006 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hagit Magen ◽  
Asher Cohen
Keyword(s):  
Dual Task ◽  
Response Selection ◽  
Response Selection Bottleneck

Locus of Backward Crosstalk Effects on Task 1 in a Psychological Refractory Period Task

2014 ◽  
Vol 61 (1) ◽  
pp. 30-37 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yao-Ting Ko ◽  
Jeff Miller
Keyword(s):  
Dual Task ◽  
Refractory Period ◽  
Psychological Refractory Period ◽  
Response Selection ◽  
Stimulus Onset ◽  
Standard Response ◽  
Backward Crosstalk ◽  
Selection Stage ◽  
Prp Paradigm ◽  
Response Selection Bottleneck

Our performance on a task decreases when the task is in a dual-task situation than when it is in isolation. An important experimental setting for dual-task situation is the psychological refractory period (PRP) paradigm, and the dual-task performance decrements in the PRP paradigm are referred to as PRP interference. The standard response-selection bottleneck (RSB) models state that the response-selection stage of the second task (T2) cannot start until the response-selection stage of the first task (T1) finishes, resulting in the PRP interference. Contrary to the prediction of RSB models, several researchers have found T2’s modulations on T1’s performance, and have suggested that T1’s selection-related processes are affected by T2’s selection-related processes, referred to as backward crosstalk effects. The locus of backward crosstalk effects is not clear, however, because RTs were measured in most previous studies. By using semantically unrelated stimuli and responses and by measuring T1’s lateralized readiness potential, we examined the locus of backward crosstalk effects. We found that the interval between T1’s stimulus onset and the stimulus-locked LRP onset was affected, suggesting T2’s response selection starts before T1’s selection is complete. The present result provided electrophysiological evidence focusing on T1’s changes in favor of the hypothesis of parallel response selection in the PRP paradigm.

Overlapping Mental Operations in Serial Performance with Preview

1994 ◽  
Vol 47 (1) ◽  
pp. 161-191 ◽  
Author(s):  
Harold Pashler
Keyword(s):  
Dual Task ◽  
Response Selection ◽  
Response Duration ◽  
Task Set ◽  
Response Mapping ◽  
Stimulus Response ◽  
Manual Responses ◽  
First Response ◽  
Concurrent Performance ◽  
Response Selection Bottleneck

Dual-task research has revealed a response-selection bottleneck: response selection cannot occur simultaneously in two different tasks, though perceptual processing may overlap response selection (Welford, 1952; Pashler & Johnston, 1989). In serial performance with preview, the same task is performed repeatedly, but stimuli are available well before response. Does the dual-task bottleneck limit the rate of responding in this situation, despite the fact that task set need not change? Four experiments examined manual responses to letters, varying stimulus preview. Preview increased RTs for the first response and reduced the subsequent inter-response intervals (IRIs). Preview also reduced the effect of visual intensity and response duration on IRIs, whereas effects of stimulus-response mapping variables were unchanged. These results indicate that the response-selection bottleneck limits serial performance, just as it limits concurrent performance of two unrelated tasks. This implies that the response-selection bottleneck is not caused by the need to switch task set.

Valence Processing Bypassing the Response Selection Bottleneck?

2008 ◽  
Vol 55 (3) ◽  
pp. 203-211 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rico Fischer ◽  
Torsten Schubert
Keyword(s):  
Dual Task ◽  
Refractory Period ◽  
Psychological Refractory Period ◽  
Response Selection ◽  
Flanker Task ◽  
Capacity Limitations ◽  
Semantic Categories ◽  
Response Selection Bottleneck ◽  
Response Activation ◽  
Temporal Overlap

Abstract. The activation of semantic categories has often been claimed to occur in an attention-free, unconditionally automatic fashion (e.g., Bargh & Chartrand, 1999 ; Ferguson & Bargh, 2004 ). Using a dual-task procedure we tested whether the activation of valence categories is restricted by dual-task specific attentional limitations. For this reason we implemented a modified Eriksen-flanker task as Task 2 in a psychological refractory period paradigm. Participants were to judge the frequency of a tone in Task 1 and the valence of a target word in the presence of irrelevant flanker words in Task 2. Two different flanker categories ensured the activation of semantic categories instead of S-R based response activation. The most important result was an underadditive interaction between flanker congruency and the amount of temporal overlap between tasks that was independent of flanker type. Following the locus-of-slack logic, we interpret these findings as evidence for Task 2 processing parallel to bottleneck-stage processing in Task 1. This extends previous findings by showing that not only number categories ( Fischer, Schubert, & Miller, 2007 ; Oriet, Tombu, & Jolicouer, 2005 ), but also semantic valence categories can be activated despite dual-task capacity limitations.

Electrophysiological correlates of parallel response selection in dual-task performance

2010 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sandra J. Thomson ◽  
Matthew T. Mazurek ◽  
Judith M. Shedden ◽  
Scott Watter
Keyword(s):  
Task Performance ◽  
Dual Task ◽  
Response Selection ◽  
Dual Task Performance

Channel Capacity and Locus of Interference under Dual Task Conditions

1978 ◽  
Vol 46 (2) ◽  
pp. 659-666 ◽  
Author(s):  
Wade R. Helm ◽  
Robert P. Fishburne ◽  
Wayne L. Waag
Keyword(s):  
Dual Task ◽  
Secondary Task ◽  
Response Selection ◽  
Processing System ◽  
Processing Capacity ◽  
Joint Function ◽  
Maximum Information ◽  
Attention Effect ◽  
Task Processing ◽  
Task Conditions

Two experiments were performed in order to determine subjects' maximum information-processing capacity under dual task conditions and to provide empirical evidence regarding the localization of the divided attention effect. The results suggest that performance on the primary task deteriorates as a joint function of both primary and secondary task processing loads. These data support the locus of interference being within the control-processing (memory-dependent) and response-selection stages of the processing system.

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