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Updated: Jun 24, 2026
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Investigating the Deployment of Visual Attention Before Accurate and Averaging Saccades via Eye Tracking and Assessment of Visual Sensitivity
Published on: March 18, 2019
Dual-task crosstalk between saccades and manual responses
1Institute of Psychology, RWTH Aachen University, Aachen, Germany. Lynn.Huestegge@psych.rwth-aachen.de
Summary
Dual-task performance suffers from crosstalk, especially with conflicting response codes. This study shows even saccades (eye movements) are affected, suggesting response code confusability underlies these dual-task costs.
Area of Science:
- Cognitive Psychology
- Neuroscience
- Human Factors
Background:
- Between-task crosstalk is a known factor contributing to dual-task costs.
- Understanding response-code conflict is crucial for explaining these costs in dual-task scenarios.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the role of response-code conflict in dual-task costs using concurrently performed saccades and manual responses.
- To examine how varying degrees of between-task response-code conflict impact performance in dual-task conditions.
Main Methods:
- Participants performed manual and saccade tasks, individually and concurrently.
- Experiments systematically manipulated the degree of response-code conflict between tasks, including hand-crossing and incompatible stimulus-response mappings.
- Performance on both manual responses and saccades was measured.
Main Results:
- Dual-task conditions impaired performance in both manual responses and saccades, challenging the assumption of saccade independence.
- The degree of between-task response-code conflict significantly modulated dual-task performance patterns.
- Saccades were often performed first, yet still showed dual-task costs.
Conclusions:
- Response-code confusability is a key mechanism driving between-task crosstalk effects in dual-task performance.
- Cognitive processes underlying saccades are susceptible to interference from concurrent manual tasks.
- These findings have implications for designing tasks and interfaces to minimize dual-task interference.
