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 Concept Videos

Decision Making01:20

Decision Making

1.1K
Decision-making is a fundamental cognitive process that involves evaluating alternatives and selecting among them. This process can range from simple choices, such as deciding what to wear, to complex decisions, like choosing a major in college or a career path. The complexity of the decision often dictates the approach we use, which can be broadly categorized into two types: automatic and controlled decision-making.
Automatic decision-making is fast, intuitive, and relies on gut feelings...
1.1K
Frustration and Conflict: Avoidance-Avoidance, Double-Approach Avoidance01:14

Frustration and Conflict: Avoidance-Avoidance, Double-Approach Avoidance

903
Avoidance-avoidance conflict refers to a psychological situation where a person must choose between two or more unpleasant alternatives. These conflicts are particularly stressful because neither option is desirable. This dilemma is often expressed in sayings like "caught between a rock and a hard place" or "between the devil and the deep blue sea." For instance, individuals who fear dental procedures may find themselves torn between enduring a painful toothache or facing the...
903

You might also read

Related Articles

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

Sort by
Same author

Telephone Games: How Issues With Common Citation Practices Established the Inverse Efficiency Score.

Experimental psychology·2026
Same author

Compatibility Effects With Simple Lever Tools: A Replication and Extension Beyond Simple Button Responses.

Human factors·2026
Same author

Is multitasking efficient? Different metrics, different conclusions.

Psychological research·2026
Same author

An attempt to replicate action-effect learning and its generalization without stimulus-stimulus learning.

Psychological research·2026
Same author

Ten years Diffusion Model for Conflict (DMC) tasks: Theoretical foundations, applications, practical recommendations, and open challenges.

Psychonomic bulletin & review·2026
Same author

The role of time in action control: Evidence against anticipation of action-effect intervals and a possible motivational account for delayed-effect costs.

Journal of experimental psychology. Learning, memory, and cognition·2025

Related Experiment Video

Updated: Apr 27, 2026

Revised and Neuroimaging-Compatible Versions of the Dual Task Screen
07:52

Revised and Neuroimaging-Compatible Versions of the Dual Task Screen

Published on: October 5, 2020

3.0K

No differences in dual-task costs between forced- and free-choice tasks.

Markus Janczyk1, Sophie Nolden, Pierre Jolicoeur

  • 1Department of Psychology III, University of Würzburg, Röntgenring 11, 97070, Würzburg, Germany, markus.janczyk@uni-wuerzburg.de.

Psychological Research
|June 21, 2014
PubMed
Summary

This study investigated action control systems using forced-choice and free-choice tasks. Results indicate that both task types experience similar dual-task interference, suggesting a single action control system rather than separate ones.

More Related Videos

A Two-interval Forced-choice Task for Multisensory Comparisons
07:13

A Two-interval Forced-choice Task for Multisensory Comparisons

Published on: November 9, 2018

10.6K
Online Repetitive Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation of Dorsomedial and Dorsolateral Prefrontal Cortex in Cognition Decision Making, and Cognitive Dissonance
13:20

Online Repetitive Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation of Dorsomedial and Dorsolateral Prefrontal Cortex in Cognition Decision Making, and Cognitive Dissonance

Published on: December 5, 2025

1.4K

Related Experiment Videos

Last Updated: Apr 27, 2026

Revised and Neuroimaging-Compatible Versions of the Dual Task Screen
07:52

Revised and Neuroimaging-Compatible Versions of the Dual Task Screen

Published on: October 5, 2020

3.0K
A Two-interval Forced-choice Task for Multisensory Comparisons
07:13

A Two-interval Forced-choice Task for Multisensory Comparisons

Published on: November 9, 2018

10.6K
Online Repetitive Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation of Dorsomedial and Dorsolateral Prefrontal Cortex in Cognition Decision Making, and Cognitive Dissonance
13:20

Online Repetitive Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation of Dorsomedial and Dorsolateral Prefrontal Cortex in Cognition Decision Making, and Cognitive Dissonance

Published on: December 5, 2025

1.4K

Area of Science:

  • Cognitive Psychology
  • Neuroscience
  • Human Action Control

Background:

  • Human behavior is driven by environmental demands or self-chosen goals.
  • Laboratory studies often use forced-choice (stimulus dictates response) and free-choice (participant chooses response) tasks to investigate action control.
  • Previous theories proposed distinct action control systems for different task types, predicting differential dual-task costs.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To compare the susceptibility of forced-choice and free-choice tasks to dual-task interference.
  • To test the hypothesis that distinct action control systems lead to greater dual-task costs in free-choice tasks.
  • To evaluate the evidence for a unitary action control system.

Main Methods:

  • Three experiments were conducted manipulating forced-choice versus free-choice task paradigms.
  • Participants performed either forced-choice or free-choice tasks concurrently with a secondary forced-choice task.
  • Response times and dual-task costs were measured and compared across task conditions.

Main Results:

  • Free-choice tasks consistently yielded slower responses compared to forced-choice tasks.
  • Typical dual-task costs were observed in both task types.
  • Crucially, the magnitude of dual-task costs was equivalent for both forced-choice and free-choice tasks.

Conclusions:

  • The observed equivalent dual-task costs challenge the notion of separate action control systems for different task types.
  • Findings support the existence of a single, unitary action control system governing both forced- and free-choice behaviors.
  • This suggests a more integrated mechanism for action selection and execution than previously theorized.