Spatial offloading in multiple task monitoring

Figures & data

Figure 1. A schematic illustration of the counter task, with (a) coloured occluders and response keys of the spatial version (Experiment 1) and the no-load condition (Experiment 2), Figure 1b shows the grey overlay of the four counters in the nonspatial version of Experiment 1. In the load-conditions of Experiment 2 (c), the counters switched positions every 4 min (medium load) or 3 min (high load), while the gray response keys were consistently mapped.

Table 1. Task performance across group and gender in Experiment 1, with standard deviations in parenthesis.

Measure	Group		Gender
	Spatial	Nonspatial	Male	Female
Counter task
Accuracy	.77 (.11)	.77 (.10)	.80 (.09)	.75 (.10)
Frequency	32.8 (7.5)	32.3 (6.2)	33.8 (8.8)	32.0 (5.7)
MRT	.39 (.23)	.41 (.22)	.45 (.21)	.37 (.23)
Updating^a	.03 (1.04)	.05 (.94)	.02 (.91)	.01 (1.05)
Inhibition^a	.07 (.77)	.06 (.82)	−.07 (.85)	.04 (.74)

Note: Accuracy = Proportion correct counter-task responses. Frequency = Number of monitoring responses/min. MRT = Mental Rotation Task.

^aFactor scores.

Table 2. pearson correlations for multitasking, spatial ability, and components of executive functioning in experiment 1, separately for counter-task accuracy (upper diagonal) and counter-task monitoring frequency (lower diagonal).

Measure	Frequency	MRT	Updating	Inhibition
Accuracy	.38**	.40**	.35**	.28**
MRT	.18	–	.01	.07
Updating	.19	.01	–	.21*
Inhibition	.12	.07	.21*	–

Note: MRT = Mental Rotation Test.

*p < .05, **p < .01 (2-tailed).

Figure 2. Multitasking accuracy as a function of spatial load and group in Experiment 2. Error bars represent standard errors.