Effects of extensive dual-task practice on processing stages in simultaneous choice tasks
DOI: 10.3758/s13414-013-0451-z
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Summary
This study investigates the specific cognitive processing stages that are optimized during extensive dual-task practice, addressing the mechanism behind the elimination of dual-task costs. Previous research by Schumacher et al. (2001) demonstrated that extended practice on simultaneous visual and auditory tasks could lead to "perfect time-sharing," effectively eliminating performance impairments. However, it remained unclear whether this improvement resulted from faster perception, central response selection, or motor execution. The authors aimed to isolate these loci of improvement using a transfer methodology, testing whether practice shortened specific processing routines within the component tasks. The researchers conducted three experiments using a visual-manual task (responding to circle position) and an auditory-verbal task (responding to tone pitch). Participants underwent eight sessions of dual-task practice, followed by transfer sessions where specific processing stages were manipulated. To test perceptual shortening, the auditory stimulus timbre was changed from sine-wave to square-wave tones. To test motor shortening, the verbal responses were changed from practiced number words (e.g., "one," "two," "three") to unpracticed ones (e.g., "eleven," "twelve," "thirteen"). Experiment 3 specifically tested central response-selection shortening by altering the mapping rules between stimuli and responses. The design ensured optimal conditions for dual-task performance, including equal task priority and distinct sensory and motor modalities. The results indicated that the primary benefit of extensive dual-task practice was a significant speed-up in the central response-selection stages of both tasks. When the mapping rules were changed in Experiment 3, reaction times increased dramatically, confirming that practice had optimized the central selection process. Additionally, perceptual-stage shortening was observed specifically in the auditory task; changing the tone timbre resulted in slower responses, suggesting that practice improved the speed of auditory stimulus identification. In contrast, manipulating the motor responses (changing the spoken words) did not significantly increase reaction times, indicating that motor execution was not a primary locus of practice-related improvement. The visual task showed no significant perceptual shortening. These findings clarify the mechanisms underlying the optimization of dual-task performance. The study concludes that the elimination of dual-task costs is driven mainly by the acceleration of central response-selection processes, with a secondary contribution from perceptual processing in auditory tasks. This challenges assumptions that motor execution or visual perception are the primary sites of improvement. The results imply that models of dual-task performance must account for the specific shortening of central processing stages to explain how humans achieve near-perfect time-sharing after extensive practice.
Key finding
Extensive dual-task practice primarily reduces dual-task costs by speeding up central response-selection processes in both component tasks, with additional contributions from perceptual shortening in the auditory task.
Methodology
lab_experiment
Provenance
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Summary generated by qwen3.6-27b-prismaquant on 2026-06-10; verification: verified.
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