Ansprechpartner:   Prof. Dr. Stefan Künzell & Harald Ewolds

Kooperation: Prof. Dr. Dr. Markus Raab (DSHS Köln), Dr. Rita Oliveira (LSBU London)

Finanzierung: DFG

Laufzeit: November 2018 - März 2021

Objective: The previous project, DFG Priority Programme 1772 “Human Performance under Multiple Cognitive Task Demands: From Fundamental Mechanisms to Optimised Task Planning”, demonstrated that performance in dual-task situations can be strongly influenced by individually determined strategies and the conceptualisation of the dual task (either as two separate tasks or as an integrated ‘super’ task). In the follow-up project, the research group from Cologne will focus on inter-individual differences in multitasking behaviour, whilst the Augsburg group will investigate how dual tasks are conceptualised, how this conceptualisation can be instructed, and how different conceptualisations influence performance in dual tasks.

Brief description: The influence of top-down mechanisms in multitasking is evident when participants are instructed to generate a 2:3 rhythm using their left and right hands. This instruction rarely achieves the desired coordination between the hands. However, the rhythm is successfully produced when the hands are coupled in a meaningful way, which can be achieved by instructing participants to produce the sound of a galloping horse. Similarly, it has been shown that harmonious visual feedback, arising from non-harmonious movement patterns, makes the execution of these difficult movements feasible. In the first phase of the project, the mechanisms behind these phenomena will be tested in a series of dual-task experiments in which instructions, feedback and task covariation are manipulated. In a second phase, we will bring the projects together and investigate whether the tendency to conceptualise task demands as dual tasks or single tasks is individually determined, by examining whether task conceptualisations transfer to different types of dual tasks. The results of this project – together with the findings from the other projects in the priority programme – are expected to lead to significant theoretical and practical advances in the field of multitasking research. The hypothesis that the selection of movements cannot occur simultaneously will be thoroughly examined. We expect the results to lead to practical considerations in areas where multitasking skills are required or advantageous, such as in competitive sport, surgery or air traffic control.

Data collection: tracking and reaction time data; questionnaire on task conceptualisation

Data analysis: Matlab, Excel, SPSS