Multitasking: Multiple, Domain-Specific Cognitive Functions in A Virtual Environment

Logie, Robert H.; Trawley, Steven; Law, Anna S.

doi:10.1037/e520602012-055

Cited by 20 publications

(41 citation statements)

References 34 publications

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“…In this framework, and consistent with earlier work, variability in prefrontally mediated executive functions is considered as the primary source of individual differences in multitasking (Logie et al, 2011;Meyer & Kieras, 1997;Salvucci & Taatgen, 2008;Shallice & Burgess, 1991;Watson & Strayer, 2010).…”

supporting

confidence: 56%

“…A core feature of multitasking is the requirement for temporal integration and monitoring of overlapping action sequences within limited time frames. How people allocate limited cognitive resources to multiple concurrent tasks is a topic of considerable theoretical and practical interest (e.g., Burgess, Veitch, de Lacy Costello & Shallice, 2000;Fuster, 1993;Logie, Trawley & Law, 2011;Mäntylä, 2013;Meyer & Kieras, 1997;Navon & Gopher, 1979;Norman & Bobrow, 1975;Salvucci & Taatgen, 2008;Todorov, Del Missier & Mäntylä, 2014;Wickens, 2002).…”

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confidence: 99%

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Deadlines in space: Selective effects of coordinate spatial processing in multitasking

et al. 2015

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Many everyday activities require coordination and monitoring of multiple deadlines. One way to handle these temporal demands might be to represent future goals and deadlines as a pattern of spatial relations. We examined the hypothesis that spatial ability, in addition to executive functioning, contributes to individual differences in multitasking. In two studies, participants completed a multitasking session in which they monitored four digital clocks running at different rates. In Study 1, we found that individual differences in spatial ability and executive functions were independent predictors of multiple-task performance. In Study 2, we found that individual differences in specific spatial abilities were selectively related to multiple-task performance, as only coordinate spatial processing, but not categorical, predicted multitasking, even beyond executive functioning and numeracy. In both studies, males outperformed females in spatial ability and multitasking and in Study 2 these sex differences generalized to a simulation of everyday multitasking. Menstrual changes moderated the effects on multitasking, in that sex differences in coordinate spatial processing and multitasking were observed between males and females in the luteal phase of the menstrual cycle, but not between males and females at menses. Overall, these findings suggest that multiple-task performance reflects independent contributions of spatial ability and executive functioning. Furthermore, our results support the distinction of categorical versus coordinate spatial processing, and suggest that these two basic relational processes are selectively affected by female sex hormones and differentially effective in transforming and handling temporal patterns as spatial relations in the context of multitasking.

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confidence: 99%

Deadlines in space: Selective effects of coordinate spatial processing in multitasking

et al. 2015

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“…it also records the position of each participant in the virtual building ten times per second, illustrated in Figure 5. in a recent set of studies (Logie, Trawley and Law, 2010), we have used the eVeT with a paradigm similar to the Shallice and Burgess (1991) Multiple errands Test, but in a virtual rather than a real environment. Participants were given a list of errands to complete in the virtual building such as 'Pick up the brown package in room T4 and take it to room g6' or 'get the door security code from room g8 and use it to unlock the door on the stairwell'.…”

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confidence: 99%

Multitasking, working memory and remembering intentions

et al. 2010

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We are grateful to Matthew Logie for undertaking the programming to create the EVET environment. We also are grateful to Fergus Craik for permission to use the Craik and Bialystock (2006) breakfast task in our research and to their programmer Perry Tohn for providing a copy of the programme and for help with its implementation in our laboratory. Multitasking refers to the performance of a range of tasks that have to be completed within a limited time period. it differs from dual task paradigms in that tasks are performed not in parallel, but by interleaving, switching from one to the other. it differs also from task switching paradigms in that the time scale is very much longer, multiple different tasks are involved, and most tasks have a clear end point. Multitasking has been studied extensively with particular sets of experts such as in aviation and in the military, and impairments of multitasking performance have been studied in patients with frontal lobe lesions. Much less is known as to how multitasking is achieved in healthy adults who have not had specific training in the necessary skills. This paper will provide a brief review of research on everyday multitasking, and summarise the results of some recent experiments on simulated everyday tasks chosen to require advance and on-line planning, retrospective memory, prospective memory, and visual, spatial and verbal short-term memory.The adult human mind is remarkably adept at selecting and implementing a wide range of mental functions for multiple interactions with the world. These interactions may be planned or spontaneous, but are constrained by physical and mental capacities or by time and the physical environment, often requiring multiple tasks or multi-part tasks. Successful implementation requires the efficient ordering or interleaving of tasks, and occasionally performing tasks in parallel. every-day examples are cooking a meal, a timelimited shopping trip, or completing a range of different office based tasks. Despite its ubiquitous everyday requirement, there is limited insight into how everyday multitasking is achieved by healthy adults and how performance might be constrained or enhanced. Key to multitasking success is the ability to draw on a wide range of cognitive functions acting in concert to achieve multiple goals or multi-layered goals. These widely varying and frequent demands on the whole cognitive system are in contrast to the majority of research on human cognition that tends to focus on individual cognitive functions in relative isolation, such as perception, attention, prospective memory, semantic and episodic memory or working memory.

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“…They have found, for example, that working memory capacity and attention can be predictors for the success or otherwise of multitasking performance (Just MA, et al 2001, Hambrick DZ, et al 2010, Bühner M, et al 2006, Bühner M, et al 2011, Colom R, et al 2010, Logie RH, Trawley S, Law A. 2011.…”

Section: Multitaskingmentioning

confidence: 99%

A New Integrated Model for Multitasking during Web Searching

Alexopoulou

2014

Procedia - Social and Behavioral Sciences

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There have been many studies in the field of information behavior. Recently Du and Spink (2011) presented a model, which simulates multitasking, cognitive coordination and cognitive shifts on web. However, this model does not incorporate personal variables and the impact of task or web design. This research addresses this gap. Information and psychological scientists have shown that information behavior (IR) is affected by: the affective domain, cognitive attributes, psychological factors, personality dimensions and sociological factors. This study investigates how IR is affected by working memory (wm), cognitive coordination, cognitive shifts and various artifacts and task variables influenced by the PAT model (Personal, Artifact and Task characteristics) of flow. The research is exploratory and takes a pragmatic, mixed method approach. Thirty University students will participate. The research tools include: pre and post questionnaires, working memory tests, Flow State Scale test, think aloud data, observations, audio-visual data, web search logs and use of the Critical Decision Method. The qualitative data will be coded and analyzed thematically and will be related to the quantitative data. This study is expected to identify the impact of all these variables on multitasking IR in the web and provide a new integrated framework, which is not only going to help information scientists to better understand this behavior but also web companies to develop more effective web products.

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Multitasking: Multiple, Domain-Specific Cognitive Functions in A Virtual Environment

Cited by 20 publications

References 34 publications

Deadlines in space: Selective effects of coordinate spatial processing in multitasking

Deadlines in space: Selective effects of coordinate spatial processing in multitasking

Multitasking, working memory and remembering intentions

A New Integrated Model for Multitasking during Web Searching

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