Preparatory brain activity in dual-tasking
Related Experiment Video
Updated: Feb 11, 2026

Revised and Neuroimaging-Compatible Versions of the Dual Task Screen
Published on: October 5, 2020
Robert Steinhauser1, Marco Steinhauser1
1Catholic University of Eichstätt-Ingolstadt, Germany, Department of Psychology, Ostenstraße 25, 85072 Eichstätt, Germany.
Abstract:
Task preparation in dual-tasking is more complex than preparation for single tasks and involves additional factors such as task prioritization. Utilizing event-related potentials, we sought to disentangle preparatory processes involving preparation on the subtask level and the superordinate dual-task level. Participants worked on a psychological refractory period paradigm in which two temporally overlapping tasks have to be completed in a specified order. Whereas dual-task-related preparation was measured by comparing task-order switches and repetitions, subtask preparation was isolated through error precursors for the individual subtasks. We found that a switch-related posterior positivity was linked to the preparation of the superordinate dual-task set. In contrast, an early frontal modulation and a stimulus-preceding negativity were markers of subtask preparation of Task 1 and Task 2, respectively. Our study provides neural evidence for a hierarchical system of control processes in dual-tasking and confirms assumptions from earlier behavioral and computational studies on strategic task prioritization.
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