How two share two tasks: evidence of a social psychological refractory period effect

Roman Liepelt, Wolfgang Prinz

Publikation: Beitrag in FachzeitschriftZeitschriftenaufsätzeForschungBegutachtung

Abstract

A strong assumption shared by major theoretical approaches to cognition posits that the human cognitive system has a limited capacity for information processing. Evidence supporting this claim comes from the dual-task paradigm in which one cognitive system has to process two tasks simultaneously. In this study, we examined whether bottleneck-like processing can also be elicited when a dual task is shared between two individuals. Under dual-task instructions giving priority to Task 1, we found evidence of a psychological refractory period effect in dual-task and joint-task conditions. Under equal priority instructions, we replicated the finding of a psychological refractory period effect in the dual-task, but not in the joint-task condition. These findings are in line with the assumption that a social psychological refractory period effect can be induced across two individuals. We suggest that this effect is due to task-specific monitoring requirements. We discuss our findings with respect to both dual-task and joint action theories.

OriginalspracheDeutsch
ZeitschriftExperimental brain research
Jahrgang211
Ausgabenummer3-4
Seiten (von - bis)387-396
Seitenumfang10
ISSN0014-4819
DOIs
PublikationsstatusVeröffentlicht - 06.2011

Fachgebiete und Schlagwörter

  • Adult
  • Attention
  • Cognition
  • Cooperative Behavior
  • Female
  • Humans
  • Interpersonal Relations
  • Male
  • Models, Psychological
  • Psychomotor Performance
  • Reaction Time
  • Refractory Period, Psychological
  • Journal Article

Zitation