Webster's scattergram method: Usefulness for assessing the asymmetry of interference between concurrent tasks

Abstract

Webster (1988) described a means of using scattergrams to represent the manual and nonmanual data from dual-task laterality experiments in a composite analysis. We used Webster's method and the conventional approach (i.e., separate analyses) to analyze the results of an experiment in which 40 right-handed adults performed a verbal and a manual task concurrently. Whereas separate analyses yielded dissimilar outcomes for the two tasks, the scattergram analysis showed that overall interference was greater when the right hand performed the manual task than when the left hand performed the manual task. Advantages of the scattergram method for analyzing dual-task data are discussed.