Adjustment of cognitive control to the frequency of dual-task interference

This study explored whether the control mechanisms recruited for optimising performance are similar for dual-task and interference-task settings. We tested whether the frequency of appearance of a secondary task resulted in an adjustment of anticipatory and reflexive forms of attentional control, as...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of cognitive psychology (Hove, England) England), 2019-08, Vol.31 (5-6), p.582-593
Main Authors: Olszanowski, Michal, Szostak, Natalia
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
cognitive control
control adjustment
Dual-task performance
response competition and interference
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Summary:This study explored whether the control mechanisms recruited for optimising performance are similar for dual-task and interference-task settings. We tested whether the frequency of appearance of a secondary task resulted in an adjustment of anticipatory and reflexive forms of attentional control, as has been observed with other interference tasks (e.g. stroop and flanker). The results of two experiments demonstrated a proportion congruency effect (PCE): when a secondary task frequently appeared, primary task performance was slower. Additionally, there was a relative slowdown of dual-task performance in blocks wherein the secondary task appeared infrequently compared to blocks wherein it appeared frequently. However, this slowdown occurred when the primary task entailed a low level of control (Experiment 1) but was absent when it demanded a high level of control (Experiment 2). Overall, the results suggest that level of control can be adjusted to task demands related to the frequency of the secondary task.
ISSN:2044-5911
2044-592X
DOI:10.1080/20445911.2019.1635605