Related Experiment Video
Updated: May 3, 2026

Methods to Explore the Influence of Top-down Visual Processes on Motor Behavior
Published on: April 16, 2014
A central bottleneck perspective on research in the Journal of experimental psychology: Human perception &
Torsten Schubert1, Tilo Strobach2
1Martin-Luther University Halle-Wittenberg, Institute for Psychology, Department of Psychology.
Abstract:
Performing two tasks simultaneously produces dual-task costs, that is, task performance is impaired under dual-task conditions compared with the separate task performance under single-task conditions. Seminal publications in the Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Perception & Performance paved the way for a theoretical understanding of the mechanisms underlying these dual-task costs. In particular, to explain these costs, these publications expressed the idea of a processing bottleneck that produces interference between two tasks in a dual-task situation. This bottleneck idea inspired our research on (a) specifying the nature of this bottleneck, (b) the neural mechanisms of active coordination of bottleneck processing, and (c) the mechanisms underlying the practice-related improvement of dual-task performance. In the present article, we illustrate in detail how the seminal publications on processing bottlenecks in the Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Perception & Performance shaped our individual research careers. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2025 APA, all rights reserved).
Related Concept Videos
Defining Psychology
Gestalt Psychology
Cognitivism
Previously dominated by behaviorism, which prioritized observable behaviors and largely ignored mental processes, psychology transformed in the 1950s. Cognitive psychologists argue that understanding how we think and process...
Perception
Bottom-up processing begins at the sensory level, where receptors detect external environmental stimuli. These could include the tactile sensation of...
Factors Affecting Perception
An illustrative example of a perceptual set is the scenario where an airline pilot told...
Parallel Processing

