Abstract
In this paper, we introduce a special issue about unique and shared mechanisms underlying the performance limitations observed in dual tasks. In particular, the relationship between task-switching costs, the attentional-blink effect, and the psychological refractory period effect is reviewed. These costs are traditionally attributed to fixed and unique capacity limitations for task set reconfiguration, target identification, and response selection, respectively. However, we argue that more global attentional processes play a role that cuts across these paradigms. This is reason for a more paradigm-independent approach to processing limitations in dual tasks.
This paper was written while the first author was supported by a fellowship from the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences.
This paper was written while the first author was supported by a fellowship from the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences.
Notes
This paper was written while the first author was supported by a fellowship from the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences.
1The conference entitled “Unique and shared processing limitations in dual-task performance” was organised by Leiden University, May 13–15, 2004. The conference was supported by grants from NWO-ISW and the EPOS graduate research school.