Dual-Task Performance: Theoretical Analysis and an Event-Coding Account
DOI: 10.5334/joc.114
URL: https://doi.org/10.5334/joc.114
archive: archived pipeline: cataloged verified
Abstract
Comprehensive theoretical analysis of dual-task performance based on the event coding framework. Proposes that dual-task interference arises from stimulus-response binding conflicts when events are spatially or temporally aligned. Explains when and why dual-task costs emerge through event coding rather than resource competition alone. This provides a more precise account of interference patterns in dual-task paradigms than bottleneck or multiple-resource models. Directly applicable to understanding when in-vehicle displays cause interference with driving: interference depends on the alignment of stimulus codes and response codes, not just modality overlap.
Summary
Theoretical paper applying the Theory of Event Coding (TEC) to dual-task performance. Hommel argues that dual-task research has stalled at empirically labeling response selection as a bottleneck without explaining the underlying mechanism. He shows TEC, originally developed for perception-action integration, can account for the key findings of both resource theory and stage theory by treating multitasking costs as a byproduct of feature binding into event files: when two concurrent tasks share or conflict on coded features, integration and retrieval interfere. The framework offers a unified, mechanistic alternative to ill-specified bottleneck and capacity accounts.
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
Sample size: Exp 1: N=10; Exp 2: N=20
Quality score: 5 / 5