L5 - Multitasking Flashcards
1
Q
What is multitasking?
A
- Our ability to perform or coordinate the completion of 2+ tasks at the same time to achieve an overall goal
2
Q
What is serial processing?
A
- Involves switching attention backwards and forwards between two tasks with only one task being processed at any given moment
3
Q
What is parallel processing?
A
Processing both tasks at the same time
4
Q
What did Strayer and Johnston do?
A
- Dual-task studies of simulated driving and conversation of mobile
- Stimulated driving task while occasionally saw a red light or green light
- Ppts reaction times and probability of missing the traffic signals were measured
- Control group: listen to the radio
- Experimental group: handheld and hands-free cell phone conversations
5
Q
Results of Strayer and Johnstone?
A
- Probability of missing traffic signal was more than double when ppts were having a conversation
- Ppts in the cell-phone group were also much slower than the control group
- Results highlight danger associated with multitasking irl
- BUT we can listen to radio while detecting traffic signals without costs
6
Q
What is the single channel model?
A
- Sensory info comes through system until bottleneck
- Only one task can be performed
- Second task must wait for end of first task
7
Q
What was the Psychological refractory period effect?
A
- Two stimuli and 2 responses - one associated with each stimulus e.g two lights and button presses
- Ppts respond to each stimulus as rapidly as possible
- When second stimulus is presented shortly after the first, there is a slowing of the response to the second stimulus
- Processing of the second stimulus must wait after the end of the processing of the first stimulus
- When stimulus of task 2 is closer in time to stimulus in task 1, reaction time to task 2 will be slower
8
Q
What is the general resource theory?
A
- We can perform multitasking
- One single pool of attentional resources can be divided freely between tasks
- We can perform multitask without cost if they do not exceed the available attentional resource
9
Q
What are the components of general resource theory?
A
- Available capacity: quantity of attentional resource available is determined by level of arousal
- Many factors affect the level of capacity e.g anxiety/fear/excitement
- Manifestations of arousal; include pupillary dilation and heart rate
- Allocation policy: system that selects activities that will be conducted based on importance of tasks
- Evaluation of demands: system that causes capacity or attention resource to be supplied as needed by the activities that the allocation policy selects
- If available resources is insufficient, system will have to increase the level of available resources to meet the demands of the task, if unable = performance decreases
10
Q
What is pupillometry?
A
- Measure of variation in pupil diameter
- Pupils dilate in response to increased cognitive activity
- Size of pupil is controlled by
1) Iris sphincter muscle = causes pupil to constrict (parasympathetic ns)
2) Iris dilator muscle = causes pupil to dilate (sympathetic ns)
11
Q
What was the pupil study?
A
- Pupil size should increase with difficulty of the task
- Ppts had to repeat string of 4 digits OR had to transform the string by adding a number to it
- In the say condition (hard) ppts repeated responses twice aloud
- In think condition (easy) ppts were instructed to think first and say aloud after
- Pupil size increased with task difficulty = larger in difficult condition
12
Q
Multiple resources theory?
A
- We can perform multitask if two tasks use different levels (visual/spatial) along each of the three dimensions
1) Stages of processing: perception, cognition and responding
2) Processing codes: cog processing can involve spatial/verbal info, Responding involves vocal verbal or manual spatial responses
3) Modalities: perception involves visual or auditory info
13
Q
What are the stages of processing (in depth):
A
- Perception: system that received input of our environment
- Cognition: system that executes all metal processing of info = verbal/spatial processing
- Responding: system that exits output or execute the responses
- Task often used multiple attentional resources and performance decreases when two tasks use the same processing stages and same materials.
14
Q
What was examples of perception and cognitive processing examples?
A
- Visual-spatial: multiple object tracking task
- Visual-Verbal: Letter search task
- Auditory-spatial: sound location task
- Auditory-verbal: paced auditory serial addition task
15
Q
What were examples of responding?
A
- Manual: Simon task - ppts asked to press a button on left if stimulus is blue or press right button if stim is green
- Vocal: Expressive vocab test: Ppts are asked to name the image
16
Q
What was the dual task procedure?
A
- First task: continuous visual tracking task with a controller - visual info and manual response
- Second task: auditory tone identification task (high/low frequency task and aud info)
- Group 1 = vocal response, group 2 = manual response
- Measuring error in visual tracking task in a single or dual task
17
Q
What were the results of the dual task procedure?
A
- Single task: performance between two groups are equivalent
- Dual-task: performance in first task is drastically affected when ppts f=do the second one
- However, performance in the manual visual tracking task (1) was not affected by the vocal tone identification
18
Q
What are automatic processes?
A
Activation of a learned sequence of elements in long-term memory that is initiated by appropriate inputs and then proceeds automatically WITHOUT ppts control, without stressing capacity limitations of system and without necessarily demanding attention
19
Q
What are controlled processes?
A
Temporary activation of a sequence of elements that can be set up quickly and easily but requires attention and is capacity limited and controlled by the ppts
20
Q
What are 4 key features of automaticity?
A
- Unconscious
- Efficient: requires limited attentional resources
- Fast
- Goal-unrelated/uncontrolled: process that is not under participants control
21
Q
What is automatisation?
A
Process by which controlled process becomes automatic as a result of practise
22
Q
What is the practise effect?
A
Practise is an important factor that contributes to automatisation e.g driving a car
23
Q
What is the instance theory?
A
- Automatisation occurs because we gradually accumulate knowledge about a specific response to the specific stimuli
- e.g when child learns how to add, they use controlled process, then with practise they store knowledge about the specific stimulus, when sufficient knowledge is accumulated = child can retrieve knowledge automatically to specific stimulus with limited attention
24
Q
What is a study looking at acquiring automatisation?
A
- Ppts have to perform 2 tasks simultaneously
- Read a text silently for comprehension OR copying words dictated by experimenter
- Practise for 5 1-hour sessions per week over 7 weeks
- Stories ranged from 700-5000 words
- Reading speed, comprehension, and recognition memory were measures
25
Q
Results for study looking at acquiring automatisation?
A
- After 6 weeks their reading speed while performing the two tasks was equivalent to reading speed of performing only one task
- Similar results were observed for comprehensions and memory performance
- Results suggest that the complex tasks (controlled) with practise can become automatic and executed in parallel (simultaneously)
26
Q
What is the Stroop task?
A
- Ppts must say ink colour in which words are printed
- 3 conditions: control: words are not colour words, congruent: words are colour words that match colour of ink, incongruent: words are colours that do not match colour of ink
- The Stroop effect: phenomenon in which tendency to name a word will interfere with ability to name colour in which the word is printed
- Automatisation is not always beneficial
