Jove
Visualize
Contact Us
JoVE
x logofacebook logolinkedin logoyoutube logo
ABOUT JoVE
OverviewLeadershipBlogJoVE Help Center
AUTHORS
Publishing ProcessEditorial BoardScope & PoliciesPeer ReviewFAQSubmit
LIBRARIANS
TestimonialsSubscriptionsAccessResourcesLibrary Advisory BoardFAQ
RESEARCH
JoVE JournalMethods CollectionsJoVE Encyclopedia of ExperimentsArchive
EDUCATION
JoVE CoreJoVE BusinessJoVE Science EducationJoVE Lab ManualFaculty Resource CenterFaculty Site
Terms & Conditions of Use
Privacy Policy
Policies

Related Experiment Videos

Simultaneous cognitive operations in working memory after dual-task practice.

Klaus Oberauer1, Reinhold Kliegl

  • 1Department of Psychology, University of Potsdam, Potsdam, Germany. ko@rz.uni-potsdam.de

Journal of Experimental Psychology. Human Perception and Performance
|August 11, 2004
PubMed
Summary

With sufficient practice, individuals can perform two cognitive operations in working memory concurrently. This dual-task performance improvement stems from practicing combined tasks, not individual ones.

Related Concept Videos

You might also read

Related Articles

Articles linked to this work by shared authors, journal, and citation graph.

Sort by
Same author

Reliability, bias, and computational cost of estimating the Bayes factor using bridge sampling and the Savage-Dickey density ratio.

Behavior research methods·2026
Same author

Medicine ball throw distance weighted with height-to-mass ratio aligns with other physical fitness tasks.

Scientific reports·2026
Same author

The role of eye movements and covert shifts of attention in working and long-term memory retrieval.

Psychonomic bulletin & review·2026
Same author

How is free time used in complex span tasks?

Journal of experimental psychology. Learning, memory, and cognition·2026
Same author

Does the benefit of time for working memory arise at encoding or retrieval?

Psychonomic bulletin & review·2026
Same author

Revisiting the retro-cue benefit: Why does focusing attention result in improved memory performance?

Journal of experimental psychology. Human perception and performance·2026

Area of Science:

  • Cognitive Psychology
  • Human Memory Research

Background:

  • Working memory allows for temporary storage and manipulation of information.
  • Simultaneous execution of cognitive tasks often incurs performance costs (dual-task costs).

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate whether extensive practice enables simultaneous execution of two cognitive operations in working memory.
  • To determine the nature of practice required to reduce dual-task costs.

Main Methods:

  • Experiment 1 involved 6 students practicing numerical and spatial updating tasks, with stimuli presented simultaneously or sequentially.
  • Participants underwent 24 practice sessions.
  • Experiment 2 manipulated practice conditions to isolate the effects of combined versus individual task practice.

Related Experiment Videos

Main Results:

  • Initially, participants showed significant dual-task costs.
  • After practice, simultaneous operation latencies matched the maximum sequential latencies, indicating effective timesharing.
  • Practice on the combined tasks, not individual tasks, was crucial for reducing dual-task costs.

Conclusions:

  • Adequate practice allows for the simultaneous execution of two distinct cognitive operations within working memory.
  • The observed improvements in dual-task performance are attributed to practice with combined operations, suggesting a specific adaptation rather than general skill automatization.