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Motor-cognitive dual-task performance: effects of a concurrent motor task on distinct components of visual processing
E C S Künstler1, K Finke2, A Günther2
1Hans Berger Department of Neurology, Jena University Hospital, Am Klinikum 1, 07747, Jena, Germany. Erika.Kuenstler@med.uni-jena.de.
Psychological Research
|December 3, 2017
Summary
Performing two tasks at once, known as dual tasking, reduces visual processing speed and short-term memory capacity. A concurrent motor task negatively impacts visual attention, but not the basic ability to perceive stimuli.
Area of Science:
- Cognitive Psychology
- Neuroscience
- Human Factors Engineering
Background:
- Dual tasking, the simultaneous execution of two continuous tasks, often leads to performance decline.
- This decline is frequently explained by a capacity sharing framework, suggesting limited cognitive resources.
- The Theory of Visual Attention (TVA) models visual processing capacity into distinct components.
Purpose of the Study:
- To assess the impact of a concurrent motor task on visual information uptake efficiency.
- To evaluate the applicability and robustness of the Theory of Visual Attention (TVA) model under dual-task conditions.
- To investigate how dual tasking affects visual processing speed, perceptual threshold, and visual short-term memory.
Main Methods:
- 24 middle-to-higher age subjects participated.
- Participants performed a continuous tapping task concurrently with a visual processing task (whole report of briefly presented letter arrays).
- Tasks were performed under both single- and dual-task conditions, with TVA parameters analyzed.
Main Results:
- Dual tasking significantly decreased visual processing capacity and visual short-term memory (VSTM) storage capacity.
- The perceptual threshold remained unaffected by the concurrent motor task.
- Goodness-of-fit and bootstrapping estimates indicated qualitatively similar, though quantitatively less efficient, visual processing under dual-task conditions.
Conclusions:
- Concurrent motor tasks impair central attentional capacity required for efficient visual information uptake.
- The findings support a capacity sharing account of motor-cognitive dual tasking.
- While visual processing remains qualitatively similar, its efficiency is reduced when attention is divided.
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