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| Research article summary (published 29 Jun 2003): |
Dual-task interference with equal task emphasis: graded capacity sharing or central postponement?
Full Abstract
Most studies using the psychological refractory period (PRP) design suggest that dual-task performance is limited by a central bottleneck. Because subjects are usually told to emphasize Task 1, however, the bottleneck might reflect a strategic choice rather than a structural limitation. To evaluate the possibility that central operations can proceed in parallel, albeit with capacity limitations, we conducted two dual-task experiments with equal task emphasis. In both experiments, subjects tended to either group responses together or respond to one task well before the other. In addition, stimulus-response compatibility effects were roughly constant across stimulus onset asynchronies (SOAs). At the short SOA, compatibility effects also carried over onto response times for the other task. This pattern of results is difficult to reconcile with the possibility that subjects share capacity roughly equally between simultaneous central operations. However, this pattern is consistent with the existence of a structural central bottleneck.
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Author information
Author/s: Ruthruff, Eric (E); Pashler, Harold E (HE); Hazeltine, Eliot (E);
Affiliation: NASA Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, California 94035, USA. eruthruff(-atsign-)mail.arc.nasa.gov
Grants: MH45584 (Agency:United States NIMH)
Journal and publication information
Publication Type: Journal Article; Research Support, U.S. Gov't, Non-P.H.S.; Research Support, U.S. Gov't, P.H.S.
Journal: Perception & psychophysics (Percept Psychophys), published in United States. (Language: eng)
Reference: 2003-Jul; vol 65 (issue 5) : pp 801-16
Dates: Created 2003/09/05; Completed 2003/10/10; Revised 2007/11/14;
PMID: 12956587, status: MEDLINE (last retrieval date: 11/6/2008)
Sourced from the National Library of Medicine. Abstract text and other information may be subject to copyright.
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