The Microstructure of Dual Task Interaction. 2. The Effect of Task Instructions on Attentional Allocation and a Model of Attention-Switching

Perception ◽  
1975 ◽  
Vol 4 (4) ◽  
pp. 459-474 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shirley Fisher
Keyword(s):  
Information Processing ◽  
Dual Task ◽  
Secondary Task ◽  
Active Role ◽  
Time Base ◽  
Main Task ◽  
Time Sharing ◽  
Attention Switching ◽  
Task Instructions ◽  
Criterion Setting

As an extension of an experimental design reported previously the microstructure of dual task interaction was investigated in a condition in which task instructions favoured the task which had previously been designated the secondary task. In the situation explored in this paper subjects worked on the five-choice serial reaction task (designated secondary task) whilst at the same time they received single auditory digits at random time intervals, performed a transform operation (adding seven), and called the answer out into a voice key. The nature of the interaction was investigated using fine analysis of data, and it is argued that the results give further support to the view that subjects were processing information sequentially. A change in the patterning of serial responses in the interval defined by the digit stimulus ( Ds) and the digit response ( Dr) under the changed-instructions condition suggested that individuals are able to play an active role in the ordering of the attention process in sequential processing situations. ‘Process theory’, in which the information processing state of the main task is considered to have a direct influence on the response to the secondary task signal, is argued to be of little use in explaining the data. Two types of explanations based on criterion theory are considered—one which involves criterion setting with respect to a direct time base and one which relies on information processing stage, as an indirect time base. It is argued that the microstructure of dual task interaction should be investigated more closely and that the ordering of the time-sharing process is a skill.

The Microstructure of Dual-Task Interaction. 1. The Patterning of Main-Task Responses within Secondary-Task Intervals

Perception ◽  
1975 ◽  
Vol 4 (3) ◽  
pp. 267-290 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shirley Fisher
Keyword(s):  
Information Processing ◽  
Dual Task ◽  
Secondary Task ◽  
Main Task ◽  
Task Instructions ◽  
Random Occurrence ◽  
Attention Process ◽  
Serial Task ◽  
Response Task ◽  
The Way

The patterning or microstructure of a situation where subjects were presented with two sets of information from two independent ‘high decision’ information processing tasks, was investigated. Thirty-two subjects worked at the five-choice serial-response task (designated by instructions to be the main task), whilst being presented with a transformation task which required that seven had to be added to a presented auditory digit (designated by instructions to be the secondary task). Results suggested that subjects were not able to process two streams of information in parallel, and that the way in which the attention process was ordered was partly a function of task instructions and partly a function of the random occurrence of each digit in relation to the on-going serial task. Results also gave support to the view that the locus of disruption was the production of the response to the secondary task. Explanations of this effect are considered.

The Microstructure of Dual Task Interaction. 3. Incompatibility and Attention Switching

Perception ◽  
1977 ◽  
Vol 6 (4) ◽  
pp. 467-477 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shirley Fisher
Keyword(s):  
Dual Task ◽  
Verbal Response ◽  
Main Task ◽  
Processing Strategy ◽  
Time Sharing ◽  
Processing Load ◽  
Attention Switching ◽  
Task Load ◽  
Sequential Processing ◽  
Response Task

This report is the third in a series of reports concerned with close analysis of a dual task situation in which a five-choice serial task is combined with an auditory—verbal response task. A situation is described in which ‘incompatibility’ is incorporated into the five-choice task in order to increase the information processing load and thus explore the effect on the mechanism believed to control the microstructure of the time-sharing process. Results supported the notion that subjects were continuing to operate a sequential processing strategy in combining the two tasks. The structure of the interval generated by the occurrence of the auditory-verbal task was different in comparison with the compatible five-choice condition reported earlier, suggesting that the introduction of incompatibility causes a change in the characteristics of the time-sharing process. The structure of the interval remained organised and consistent, suggesting that the mechanism which controlled the time-sharing process was not disrupted by increased main task load and therefore was likely to involve a process which did not compete for attention space with task variables. Results also revealed an effect of the digit task response on the following two serial responses. It was suggested that these were probably best described as two independent effects: one arising from the sequential processing strategy adopted, and the other arising perhaps as a function of perception of overall task difficulty.

The Microstructure of Dual-Task Interaction. 4. Sleep Deprivation and the Control of Attention

Perception ◽  
1980 ◽  
Vol 9 (3) ◽  
pp. 327-337 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shirley Fisher
Keyword(s):  
Sleep Deprivation ◽  
Dual Task ◽  
Secondary Task ◽  
Control Group ◽  
Main Task ◽  
Surprising Result ◽  
Attention Switching ◽  
The Difference ◽  
Response Task ◽  
Priority Structure

The experiment was designed to investigate attention-switching behaviour in sleep-deprived subjects and involved the same dual-task paradigm reported in earlier studies. The task specified by instructions to be the main task, was the five-choice serial-response task; the secondary task was an auditory-verbal digit task which occurred at random time intervals. Analysis of the intervals in which the two tasks concurred gave a different result. Sleep-deprived subjects seemed less able to control the fine structure of the interval and tended to persist in producing serial responses at the expense of the secondary-task response. The evidence supported the view that both sleep-deprived and control subjects were not able to process information in parallel and, thus, the difference in interval patterning was due to the difference in attention-switching processes. The possibility that sleep deprivation might result in loss of attentional control is considered briefly. A surprising result was that, in terms of overall response rates, the sleep-deprived group, although slower, preserved the dual-task priority structure better than the control group, who slowed on both tasks in the combined condition. The control result was different in this respect from control data from previous research, but it is important that within the sleep-deprived group there was evidence that ability to preserve the priority structure was unaffected.

Individual Differences and Age-Related Changes in Time-Sharing Ability of Aviators

1983 ◽  
Vol 27 (1) ◽  
pp. 117-121 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rolf Braune ◽  
Christopher D. Wickens
Keyword(s):  
Individual Differences ◽  
Attention Deficit ◽  
Dual Task ◽  
Age Groups ◽  
Separate Analysis ◽  
Negative Evidence ◽  
Time Sharing ◽  
Age Related ◽  
Dual Task Performance ◽  
General Slowing

Performance in single task and dual task configurations was examined across four different age groups to determine the presence of an attention deficit hypothesis with increasing chronological age. Although a general slowing of performance could be shown no interaction between age and dual task loadings could be observed which is interpreted as negative evidence for the attention deficit hypothesis. A separate analysis revealed individual differences in time-sharing ability within age groups to be a significant factor in dual task performance.

The Effect of Processing Code, Response Modality and Task Difficulty on Dual Task Performance and Subjective Workload in a Manual System

1987 ◽  
Vol 31 (7) ◽  
pp. 847-851 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yili Liu ◽  
Christopher D. Wickens
Keyword(s):  
Task Performance ◽  
Dual Task ◽  
Task Difficulty ◽  
Task Structure ◽  
Time Sharing ◽  
Multiple Resources ◽  
Response Modality ◽  
Dual Task Performance ◽  
Processing Resources ◽  
And Task

We report here the first experiment of a series studying the effect of task structure and difficulty demand on time-sharing performance and workload in both automated and corresponding manual systems. The experimental task involves manual control time-shared with spatial and verbal decisions tasks of two levels of difficulty and two modes of response (voice or manual). The results provide strong evidence that tasks and processes competing for common processing resources are time shared less effectively and have higher workload than tasks competing for separate resources. Subjective measures and the structure of multiple resources are used in conjunction to predict dual task performance. The evidence comes from both single task and from dual task performance.

Does Secondary Task Measure Outcome Conflict or Resource Allocation?

1992 ◽  
Vol 36 (18) ◽  
pp. 1398-1402
Author(s):  
Pamela S. Tsang ◽  
Tonya L. Shaner
Keyword(s):  
Resource Allocation ◽  
Task Performance ◽  
Dual Task ◽  
Secondary Task ◽  
Tracking Error ◽  
Memory Task ◽  
Primary Task ◽  
Memory Probe ◽  
Temporal Predictability ◽  
Task Measure

The secondary task technique was used to test two alternative explanations of dual task decrement: outcome conflict and resource allocation. Subjects time-shared a continuous tracking task and a discrete Sternberg memory task. The memory probes were presented under three temporal predictability conditions. Dual task performance decrements in both the tracking and memory tasks suggested that the two tasks competed for some common resources, processes, or mechanisms. Although performance decrements were consistent with both the outcome conflict and resource allocation explanations, the two explanations propose different mechanisms by which the primary task could be protected from interference from the concurrent secondary task. The primary task performance could be protected by resource allocation or by strategic sequencing of the processing of the two tasks in order to avoid outcome conflict. In addition to examining the global trial means, moment-by-moment tracking error time-locked to the memory probe was also analyzed. There was little indication that the primary task was protected by resequencing of the processing of the two tasks. This together with the suggestion that predictable memory probes led to better protected primary task performance than less predictable memory probes lend support for the resource explanation.

A Multi-Priority Control of Asymmetric Coordination for Redundant Dual-Arm Robot

2019 ◽  
Vol 16 (02) ◽  
pp. 1950008
Author(s):  
Fuhai Zhang ◽  
Jiadi Qu ◽  
He Liu ◽  
Yili Fu
Keyword(s):  
Secondary Task ◽  
Control Method ◽  
Null Space ◽  
Main Task ◽  
External Impact ◽  
Dual Arm Robot ◽  
End Effectors ◽  
Dual Arm ◽  
Arm Coordination ◽  
Asymmetric Coordination

The paper develops a multi-priority control method of asymmetric coordination for a redundant dual-arm robot. A novel dual-arm coordination impedance is introduced to the multi-priority control, and then the performance of the object tracking and the redundant joints is improved by the regulation of the relative Cartesian errors between two arms. The control of asymmetric coordination is divided into the main task and the secondary task. The control of the main task can regulate the two end-effectors’ errors and the relative errors by building the model of spatial parallel spring and damping (SPSDM), which establishes the dual-arm coordination impedance relation in Cartesian space. The control of the secondary task optimizes the performance of the redundant joint impedance and joint limit avoidance in null space. Finally, a typical asymmetric coordination experiment of peg-in-hole is carried out to verify the validity and feasibility of the proposed method. The results indicate that the proposed dual-arm coordination impedance can regulate the relative tracking errors between two objects directly, and in the context of the external impact force applied to the two end-effectors, the peg-in-hole dual-arm task can be achieved successfully.

Is Time-Sharing a General Capability?

1979 ◽  
Vol 23 (1) ◽  
pp. 532-535
Author(s):  
Harold L. Hawkins ◽  
Elizabeth Rodriguez ◽  
Gerald M. Reicher
Keyword(s):  
Dual Task ◽  
Task Characteristics ◽  
Time Sharing ◽  
Specific Time ◽  
General Ability ◽  
Processing Demands ◽  
The Individual ◽  
Task Conditions ◽  
Similar Processing

The time-sharing ability of 18 students was measured under 8 separate dual-task conditions. Three distinct task characteristics were systematically varied across conditions in an effort to manipulate the nature of the specific time-sharing demands imposed. Each condition contained two of these characteristics in common with 3 of the remaining 7 conditions, one of the characteristics in common with 3 others, and none in common with the last condition. Time-sharing efficiency correlated across conditions that impose similar processing demands on the individual, but not across conditions imposing relatively dissimilar demands. We conclude that time-sharing performance under present conditions is determined by several poorly correlated, task-specific subcapacities rather than by a single general ability.

Training Effects on Response Strategies in a Perceptual Motor Task

1985 ◽  
Vol 29 (8) ◽  
pp. 755-758
Author(s):  
Jani Gabriel Byrne ◽  
Nancy S. Anderson
Keyword(s):  
Individual Differences ◽  
Performance Measures ◽  
Dual Task ◽  
Response Pattern ◽  
Motor Task ◽  
Response Strategy ◽  
Time Sharing ◽  
Close Inspection ◽  
Response Strategies ◽  
Early Performance

This study examined the influence of training on individual differences in time-sharing response strategies for a dual-task. Using early performance measures in a dual-task, subjects were classified on Day 1 as performing in either a simultaneous, alternating, or massed fashion. On Day 2, subjects received training instructions to either upgrade or maintain their particular response strategy. The results indicated that training was successful in the majority of the cases. Close inspection of performance revealed that subjects who were not able to achieve simultaneity had learned the dual-task response pattern, but were responding too slowly.

156 THE EFFECTS OF A SECONDARY TASK ON THE CONTROL OF TRUNK MOVEMENT DURING DUAL-TASK GAIT

2010 ◽  
Vol 16 ◽  
pp. S45
Author(s):  
T. Doi ◽  
T. Asai ◽  
R. Yamaguchi ◽  
M. Komatsu ◽  
D. Makiura ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Dual Task ◽  
Secondary Task ◽  
Trunk Movement
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