The cost of errors: Perceived error detection in dual-task conditions

Area of Science:

• Cognitive Neuroscience
• Psychology

Background:

• Error detection is vital for behavioral adjustment.
• Brain imaging shows error detection mechanisms activate even without behavioral control needs.
• The cognitive resources for perceived error detection remain unclear.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate if perceived error detection, the recognition of unexpected stimuli, demands central cognitive resources.
• To determine if error detection imposes a bottleneck on information processing.

Main Methods:

• Two experiments utilized a dual-task design.
• Participants performed a primary task involving perceived error detection.
• Performance on a secondary task was measured to assess processing bottlenecks.

Main Results:

• Perceived error detection in the first task created an information processing bottleneck.
• This bottleneck led to delayed response selection in the second task.
• The effects were observed even when behavioral control demands were low.

Conclusions:

• Perceived error detection requires central cognitive resources.
• This resource limitation is a general characteristic of error detection, irrespective of behavioral control demands.
• Error detection impacts general information processing capacity.