Task Prioritization in Dual-Tasking

Task Prioritization in Dual-Tasking: Instructions versus Preferences

Jansen, R.J. (TU Delft Human Information Communication Design)
van Egmond, R. (TU Delft Human Information Communication Design)
de Ridder, H. (TU Delft Human Information Communication Design)

2016-07-08

The role of task prioritization in performance tradeoffs during multi-tasking has received widespread attention. However, little is known on whether people have preferences regarding tasks, and if so, whether these preferences conflict with priority instructions. Three experiments were conducted with a high-speed driving game and an auditory memory task. In Experiment 1, participants did not receive priority instructions. Participants performed different sequences of single-task and dual-task conditions. Task performance was evaluated according to participants’ retrospective accounts on preferences. These preferences were reformulated as priority instructions in Experiments 2 and 3. The results showed that people differ in their preferences regarding task prioritization in an experimental setting, which can be overruled by priority instructions, but only after increased dual-task exposure. Additional measures of mental effort showed that performance tradeoffs had an impact on mental effort. The interpretation of these findings was used to explore an extension of Threaded Cognition Theory with Hockey’s Compensatory Control Model.

Memory
Attention
Learning curves
Police
Learning
Experimental design
Control theory
Behavior

http://resolver.tudelft.nl/uuid:9171bcab-03d1-4276-b1e9-15cb372fd177

https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0158511

1932-6203

PLoS ONE, 11 (7)

Institutional Repository

journal article

© 2016 R.J. Jansen, R. van Egmond, H. de Ridder