Response activation in overlapping tasks and the response-selection bottleneck.
The authors investigated the impact of response activation on dual-task performance by presenting a subliminal prime before the stimulus in Task 2 (S2) of a psychological refractory period (PRP) task. Congruence between prime and S2 modulated the reaction times in Task 2 at short stimulus onset asynchrony despite a PRP effect. This Task 2 congruence effect was paralleled by a Task 1 congruence effect and emerged exclusively under conditions of cross talk, whereas it did not occur under dual-task conditions preventing cross talk between tasks. This suggests that response activation operates during the PRP in dual tasks and affects the response times in Task 2 via cross talk between common processing elements at prebottleneck stages but not by directly affecting the postbottleneck stages.
Schubert
Torsten
T
Department of Psychology, Humboldt-University Berlin, Germany. torsten.schubert@psychologie.hu-berlin.de
Fischer
Rico
R
Stelzel
Christine
C
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000704:Analysis of Variance; D001288:Attention / Q000502:physiology; D002755:Choice Behavior; D003220:Conflict, Psychological; D006801:Humans; D008606:Mental Processes / Q000502:physiology; D008959:Models, Neurological; D011597:Psychomotor Performance / Q000502:physiology*; D012016:Reference Values; D012033:Refractory Period, Psychological / Q000502:physiology*; D013360:Subliminal Stimulation