Dividing attention within and between hemispheres: testing a multiple resources approach to limited-capacity...

Area of Science:

• Cognitive Psychology
• Neuroscience
• Information Processing

Background:

• Theories of resource allocation in information processing propose separate resource pools for brain hemispheres.
• Understanding task overlap and hemisphere resource accessibility is key to cognitive models.

Purpose of the Study:

• To test the multiple resources approach to resource allocation in information processing.
• To examine how different degrees of task overlap (complete, partial, none) affect performance based on hemisphere resource pools.
• To investigate the independence of left and right hemisphere resource supplies.

Main Methods:

• Utilized dual-task methodology with varying attention allocation.
• Experiment 1: Compared complete and partial overlap using verbal memory load and visual field tasks (left visual field/LVF and right visual field/RVF).
• Experiment 2: Compared complete and no overlap using verbal memory load and a same-different judgment task.

Main Results:

• Performance decrements were more severe for right visual field (RVF) stimuli, indicating greater resource demand.
• Performance trade-offs between tasks occurred when there was overlap in left hemisphere resource demand (Experiment 1, RVF trials in Experiment 2).
• No performance trade-offs were observed when there was no overlap in left hemisphere resource demand (LVF trials in Experiment 2).

Conclusions:

• Results contradict single-capacity models of attention.
• Findings support the hypothesis of independent resource supplies in each brain hemisphere.
• The study has implications for understanding cerebral specialization and divided attention.