Dual-Task Performance: Theoretical Analysis and an Event-Coding Account

Hommel, Bernhard · 2020 · CrossRef

DOI: 10.5334/joc.114

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Summary

This theoretical paper critiques the stagnation of dual-task research, arguing that existing frameworks—specifically resource theories and processing-stage theories—fail to provide mechanistic explanations for multitasking deficits. Bernhard Hommel contends that current approaches rely on "empirical generalization," merely labeling bottlenecks (such as response selection) or hypothetical resources without explaining how these mechanisms operate. To address this gap, the author applies the Theory of Event Coding (TEC), a comprehensive framework of perception and action, to dual-task performance. The paper demonstrates that TEC can account for key findings traditionally attributed to resource and stage theories while offering explicit mechanistic details, suggesting that multitasking costs are byproducts of standard cognitive functioning rather than requiring dedicated niche theories. The analysis utilizes TEC’s architecture, where cognition consists of "event files" binding motor patterns, perceptual consequences, and contextual features. These event files compete for action control, with activation modulated by "intentional weighting" (goal-directed selection criteria) and "metacontrol" (a system balancing persistence and flexibility). Hommel applies this model to explain specific empirical phenomena. For instance, task-emphasis effects, often cited as evidence for resource allocation, are explained by shifts in metacontrol toward persistence, which increases competition between selection criteria and slows switching between tasks. Similarly, variations in the degree of parallel processing are attributed to metacontrol settings rather than limited resources. The paper also addresses stage theory predictions, such as the backward-compatibility effect, by showing how TEC accounts for the timing of response selection through the sequential inhibition and activation of effector-specific criteria. The findings indicate that TEC successfully integrates observations from both resource and stage accounts without invoking undefined mental energy or rigid processing stages. By modeling dual-task interference as a result of competitive activation among event files and the modulation of this competition by metacontrol, the theory provides a transparent account of why certain processes interfere with others. For example, the bottleneck at response selection is explained by the structural requirement that one effector criterion must inhibit itself before another can gain sufficient activation, rather than by an arbitrary serial stage. This approach clarifies how structural representations and dynamic processes interact to produce performance costs. The significance of this work lies in its call for a shift from Aristotelian categorization to Galilean mechanistic theorizing in cognitive psychology. Hommel argues that understanding multitasking requires models that specify components, representations, and their interactions, rather than simply labeling observed effects. By demonstrating that TEC can explain dual-task deficits through general principles of event coding and metacontrol, the paper suggests that the field can move beyond fragmented, data-driven models. This integrative approach promises to generate more diagnostic hypotheses and deepen the understanding of cognitive control, executive functions, and the fundamental architecture of human information processing.

Key finding

Dual-task interference can be explained mechanistically as feature-binding crosstalk in event files rather than as a dedicated response-selection bottleneck or undifferentiated processing resource.

Methodology

theoretical

Provenance

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Topics

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• dual task multitasking
• dual task performance
• capacity resource theory
• task switching
• attention

Information type

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• Theoretical Contribution: theory or model