title: Higher-order cognitive control in dual tasks: Evidence from task-pair switching.
abstract: In the present study, we combined the psychological refractory period (PRP) paradigm with a novel task-pair switching logic which enabled us to isolate performance costs occurring at the global level of task-pairs. In Experiment 1, in which we used conceptually overlapping responses for Task 1 (T1) and Task 2 (T2), we generated 3 task-pairs by combining 1 of 3 visual tasks (T1) with an auditory task (T2). In addition to worse performance after a short SOA than a long SOA (i.e., PRP effect), we found impaired performance in n - 1 task-pair switches as compared to n - 1 task-pair repetitions (i.e., n - 1 task-pair switch costs), suggesting that task-pairs were activated during dual-task processing. In Experiment 2, we increased the interference between T1 and T2 by using physically overlapping responses and we again observed n - 1 task-pair switch costs. To investigate whether the activation of task-pairs is adjusted by inhibitory control, we looked at the n - 2 task-pair sequence and found performance to be better in n - 2 task-pair repetitions than in n - 2 task-pair switches in both experiments. This n - 2 task-pair repetition benefit was replicated in Experiment 3 in which no immediate task-pair repetitions were included. Hence, the evidence suggests enhanced activation rather than inhibition as a crucial selection mechanism at the global level of dual-task processing. (PsycINFO Database Record
authors.affiliation: Institute of Psychology, RWTH Aachen University.
authors.forename: Patricia
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Hirsch
authors.affiliation: Institute of Psychology, RWTH Aachen University.
authors.forename: Sophie
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Nolden
authors.affiliation: Institute of Psychology, RWTH Aachen University.
authors.forename: Iring
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Koch
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D056344:Executive Function / Q000502:physiology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D010364:Pattern Recognition, Visual / Q000502:physiology*; D011597:Psychomotor Performance / Q000502:physiology*; D012033:Refractory Period, Psychological / Q000502:physiology*; D055815:Young Adult