On the Organization of Task-Order and Task-Specific Information in Dual-Task Situations

Public Significance Statement During multitasking, that is, the performance of multiple tasks at the same time, different types of information have to be processed. By applying a specific version of a dual-task paradigm, the present study investigates how these different types of information, that is, task-order information and specific component task-information, are mentally organized. The findings strongly suggest that different types of information are represented separately by distinct representations. This is in line with the view, that multitasking situations can be divided in different informational task components. These components are conjointly represented in an aggregated form and can be adjusted individually on the spot if required. Dual-tasks (DT) require the employment of task-order representations that schedule the processing of 2 tasks. Evidence for this assumption stems from the observation that in DTs with variable order, performance is improved in trials with repeated processing order relative to the preceding trial in comparison to trials with reversed processing order. So far, it is an open question whether these order representations only contain order information or whether they also integrate component task information. To tackle this question, we applied a DT with variable task-order consisting of an auditory and a visual task. In Experiment 1, in addition to task-order, the visual task varied randomly from trial to trial while the auditory task kept constant. In Experiment 2, the auditory task varied. In Experiment 3, both component tasks varied. In all experiments, performance benefits occurred in trials with a repeated relative to trials with a reversed processing order, irrespective of a repeated or a changed component task. This indicates that order representations in DTs only contain order information. The findings are in line with the view that multitasking situations are represented as an agglomeration of distinct components that can be individually adjusted to changing task demands.

Automated summary

This study investigates how different types of information are mentally organized during multitasking. The findings suggest that different types of information are represented separately, supporting the idea that multitasking situations can be divided into different informational task components. Additionally, the study found that order representations in dual-tasks only contain order information and can be adjusted individually based on task demands.