title: A critical evaluation of the cognitive penetrability of posture.
abstract: BACKGROUND/STUDY CONTEXT: Interactions between postural control and cognitive activity as evidenced by dual-tasking studies are common, and especially pronounced in the elderly. Some authors have used this finding to suggest that posture is "cognitively penetrable."
  
  
  METHODS
  The authors present a critical look at the "cognitive penetrability of posture" concept. The authors first trace the notion back to Pylyshyn ( 1980 , Behavioral and Brain Sciences, 3, 111-169) in the context of visual information processing.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The authors then argue that dual-tasking interference effects do not prove that posture is penetrable by cognition.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The authors conclude that it may be valid to study cognitive penetrability of posture, but that such an endeavor is served best by adopting a hierarchical model of action control.
authors.affiliation: Research Institute MOVE, Faculty of Human Movement Sciences, VU University Amsterdam, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: John F
authors.initials: JF
authors.lastname: Stins
authors.forename: Peter J
authors.initials: PJ
authors.lastname: Beek
mesh_terms: D003071:Cognition; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D011187:Posture; D011597:Psychomotor Performance