A Forthcoming Key Press Can Be Selected While Earlier Ones Are Executed.

Area of Science:

• Cognitive Psychology
• Human Factors Engineering

Background:

• Response selection and execution are key components of human performance.
• Stimulus-response (S-R) compatibility influences response selection, even with practice.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate concurrent response selection during movement sequence execution.
• To examine the impact of S-R compatibility on task performance with practice.

Main Methods:

• 26 subjects performed sequences of key presses with varying S-R compatibility.
• Task involved predetermined key presses followed by a stimulus-dependent choice key.
• Response selection demands were manipulated using compatible and incompatible S-R mappings.

Main Results:

• The compatibility effect on response selection time diminished with preceding key presses.
• Early in practice, some compatibility effect was observed in three-key sequences.
• Concurrent preparation was slower than execution of fixed keys with limited practice.

Conclusions:

• Movement execution processes are not hindered by concurrent response selection.
• Practice allows for selection of later movements during earlier ones, without affecting execution rate.
• Concurrent processing does not always lead to reduced execution rates.