title: Ecological Relevance Determines Task Priority in Older Adults' Multitasking.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Multitasking is a challenging aspect of human behavior, especially if the concurrently performed tasks are different in nature. Several studies demonstrated pronounced performance decrements (dual-task costs) in older adults for combinations of cognitive and motor tasks. However, patterns of costs among component tasks differed across studies and reasons for participants' resource allocation strategies remained elusive.
  
  
  METHODS
  We investigated young and older adults' multitasking of a working memory task and two sensorimotor tasks, one with low (finger force control) and one with high ecological relevance (postural control). The tasks were performed in single-, dual-, and triple-task contexts.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Working memory accuracy was reduced in dual-task contexts with either sensorimotor task and deteriorated further under triple-task conditions. Postural and force performance deteriorated with age and task difficulty in dual-task contexts. However, in the triple-task context with its maximum resource demands, older adults prioritized postural control over both force control and memory.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Our results identify ecological relevance as the key factor in older adults' multitasking.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, University of Leuven, Belgium. School of Psychology, Queen's University Belfast, UK. m.doumas@qub.ac.uk.
authors.forename: Michail
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Doumas
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, University of Leuven, Belgium.
authors.forename: Ralf Th
authors.initials: RT
authors.lastname: Krampe
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000367:Age Factors; D000368:Aged; D000375:Aging / Q000502:physiology*; D056344:Executive Function / Q000502:physiology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008570:Memory, Short-Term / Q000502:physiology*; D004856:Postural Balance / Q000502:physiology*; D011597:Psychomotor Performance / Q000502:physiology*; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: Aging; Dual tasking; Multitasking; Postural control; Sensorimotor control; Working memory.