Multiple Task Performance and Psychological Refractory Period in Children: Focusing on PRP Paradigm Tasks

Kim, Bokyung; Yi, Soon Hyung · 2017 · OpenAlex-citations

DOI: 10.5723/kjcs.2017.38.3.75

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Summary

This study investigates the cognitive processing characteristics and performance limits of 5-year-old children during multiple-task performance, specifically focusing on the Psychological Refractory Period (PRP) effect. Motivated by the increasing complexity of stimuli in children’s educational environments and a lack of research on micro-level processing interference in young children, the authors aimed to determine how task conditions (Stimulus Onset Asynchrony [SOA] and task difficulty) and stimulus modality (visual vs. auditory) influence multi-task performance and PRP. The researchers recruited 70 five-year-old children and utilized E-prime software to administer multi-task trials. Participants responded to two stimuli presented with microscopic time differences (SOAs of 250ms, 500ms, and 800ms). The tasks varied by modality (visual-visual or auditory-auditory) and difficulty (low: simple reaction for Task 1; high: discrimination reaction for Task 1). Response times (RTs) were recorded for both tasks. To calculate the PRP, the researchers also measured single-task performance for the second task. Individual differences in attention and executive function were controlled using the Children’s Color Trails Test. Data were analyzed using repeated-measures ANOVA. The results demonstrated that as SOA increased, RTs for the first task increased, while RTs for the second task and the PRP decreased. Task difficulty significantly impacted performance; RTs and PRP were significantly longer for difficult tasks compared to easy tasks. An interaction effect between SOA and task difficulty was observed, with the PRP effect being more pronounced under high-difficulty conditions. While there was no main effect of stimulus modality, task difficulty moderated the modality effect. Specifically, under high-difficulty conditions, RTs and PRP for visual-visual tasks were significantly longer than those for auditory-auditory tasks, suggesting an auditory processing advantage when cognitive load is high. These findings provide empirical evidence for the central bottleneck model in children, indicating that cognitive load in the first task’s response selection stage delays the processing of the second task. The study highlights that children experience substantial performance loss during multi-tasking, particularly with short SOAs and high cognitive demands. The results imply that auditory stimuli may be processed more efficiently than visual stimuli under high-load conditions. Practically, this informs the design of educational environments and multi-task activities suitable for young children, emphasizing the need to consider cognitive load and stimulus modality to minimize interference and support developmental appropriateness.

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• dual task multitasking