title: Adaptive utilization of optical variables during postural and suprapostural dual-task performance: comment on Stoffregen, Smart, Bardy, and Pagulayan (1999).
abstract: T. A. Stoffregen, L. J. Smart, B. G. Bardy, and R. J. Pagulayan (1999) combined a postural task (upright stance) with a suprapostural task (visual fixation) to show that sway variability was not driven by optic flow in a task-independent manner (autonomous control) but governed by the demands of the supra-postural task (facilitatory control). The present study used a novel combination of Stoffregen et al.'s task conditions but obtained clear evidence of autonomous control and no indication of facilitatory control. The theoretical adequacy of the stabilization-by-looking versus stabilization-of-looking contrast was examined, as was emerging evidence that posture control and common cognitive tasks place concurrent demands on the same capacity-limited resources. An adaptive resource-sharing view of postural-suprapostural multitasking was proposed as an alternative to both the autonomous- and facilitatory-control views.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, Institute for Applied Cognitive Science, University of Warwick, Coventry, United Kingdom. pssbt@warwick.ac.uk
authors.forename: Suvobrata
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Mitra
mesh_terms: D000221:Adaptation, Ocular; D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D003071:Cognition; D005403:Fixation, Ocular; D006801:Humans; D008875:Middle Aged; D011187:Posture; D013028:Space Perception; D014796:Visual Perception