Abstract
Research continues to provide evidence that people are poor multi-taskers. Cognitive resource theory is a common explanation for the inability to efficiently perform multiple tasks at the same time. This theory proposes that one’s limited supply of cognitive resources can be utilized faster than it is replenished, which results in a performance decline, particularly when these limited resources must be allocated among multiple tasks. Researchers have proposed both domain-specific, for example, spatial versus verbal processing resources, and domain general cognitive resources. In the present research, we investigated whether a spatial puzzle task performed simultaneously with a verbal recall task would impair performance in either task or both tasks, compared to performance on the tasks individually. As hypothesized, a reduction in word recall was found when dual-tasking, though performance on the puzzle task did not significantly differ between the single- and dual-task conditions. This is consistent, in part, with both a general resource theory and a Multiple Resource Theory, but further work is required to better understand the cognitive processing system. The employment of the recall task in the dual-task paradigm with a variety of secondary tasks will help to continue mapping out the specificity (or lack thereof) of cognitive resources utilized in various mental and physical tasks.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Baddeley A (1992) Working memory. Science 255(5044):556–559
Baddeley A (2000) The episodic buffer: a new component of working memory? Trends Cogn Sci 4:417–423. doi:10.1037/0021-843X.102.4.517
Baddeley A (2003) Working memory: looking back and looking forward. Nat Rev Neurosci 4:829–839. doi:10.1038/nrn1201
Baddeley A, Hitch G (1974) Working memory. Psychol Learn Motiv 8:47–89
Caggiano DM, Parasuraman R (2004) The role of memory representation in the vigilance decrement. Psychon Bull Rev 11:932–937. doi:10.3758/BF03196724
Darling KA, Helton WS (2014) Dual-task interference between climbing and a simulated communication task. Exp brain Res 232:1367–1377. doi:10.1007/s00221-014-3855-7
Epling SL, Blakely MJ, Russell PN, Helton WS (2016a) Free recall and outdoor running: cognitive and physical demand interference. Exp brain Res 234:2979–2987. doi:10.1007/s00221-016-4700-y
Epling SL, Russell PN, Helton WS (2016b) A new semantic vigilance task: vigilance decrement, workload, and sensitivity to dual-task costs. Exp brain Res 234:133–139. doi:10.1007/s00221-015-4444-0
Frick-Horbury D, Guttentag RE (1998) The effects of restricting hand gesture production on lexical retrieval and free recall. Am J Psychol 111:43–62. doi:10.2307/1423536
Green AL, Helton WS (2011) Dual-task performance during a climbing traverse. Exp brain Res 215:307–313. doi:10.1007/s00221-011-2898-2
Green AL, Helton WD, Draper N (2012) Dual-task performance during traverse climbing: human factors implications for emergency- response organisations
Green AL, Draper N, Helton WS (2014) The impact of fear words in a secondary task on complex motor performance: a dual-task climbing study. Psychol Res 78:557–565. doi:10.1007/s00426-013-0506-8
Guérard K, Tremblay S (2008) Revisiting evidence for modularity and functional equivalence across verbal and spatial domains in memory. J Exp Psychol Learn Mem Cogn 34:556–569. doi:10.1037/0278-7393.34.3.556
Haier RJ, Karama S, Leyba L, Jung RE (2009) MRI assessment of cortical thickness and functional activity changes in adolescent girls following three months of practice on a visual-spatial task. BMC Res Notes 2:174. doi:10.1186/1756-0500-2-174
Hart SG, Staveland LE (1988) Development of NASA-TLX (task load index): results of empirical and theoretical research. Adv Psychol 52:139–183.
Head J, Helton WS (2014) Sustained attention failures are primarily due to sustained cognitive load not task monotony. Acta Psychol (Amst) 153:87–94. doi:10.1016/j.actpsy.2014.09.007
Helton WS, Russell PN (2015) Rest is best: the role of rest and task interruptions on vigilance. Cognition 134:165–173. doi:10.1016/j.cognition.2014.10.001
Jones D, Farrand P, Stuart G, Morris N (1995) Functional equivalence of verbal and spatial information in serial short-term memory. J Exp Psychol Learn Mem Cogn 21:1008–1018. doi:10.1037/0278-7393.21.4.1008
Kahneman D (1973) Attention and effort. Prentice-Hall Inc., Englewood Cliffs
Navon D (1984) Resources–a theoretical soup stone? Psychol Rev 91:216–234. doi:10.1037/0033-295X.91.2.216
Paivio A (1991) Dual coding theory: retrospect and current status. Can J Psychol 45:255–287. doi:10.1037/h0084295
Paivio A, Yuille JC, Madigan SA (1968) Concreteness, imagery, and meaningfulness value for 925 nouns. J Exp Psychol 76:21–25
Parasuraman R, Mouloua M (1987) Interaction of signal discriminability and task type in vigilance decrement. Percept Psychophys 41:17–22. doi:10.3758/BF03208208
Smith E, Jonides J, Koeppe RA (1996) Dissociating verbal and spatial working. Cereb Cortex 6:11–20. doi:10.1093/cercor/6.1.11
Strang A, Funke GJ, Knott BA, Warm JS (2011) Physio-behavioral synchronicity as an index of processes supporting team performance. Proc Hum Factors Ergon Soc Annu Meet 55:1447–1451. doi:10.1177/1071181311551301
Strang AJ, Epling SL, Funke GJ, Russell SM (2013) Temporal complexity in team coordination associated with increased performance in a fast-paced puzzle task. Proc Hum Factors Ergon Soc Annu Meet 57:1234–1238. doi:10.1177/1541931213571274
Strang AJ, Funke GJ, Russell SM et al (2014) Physio-behavioral coupling in a cooperative team task: contributors and relations. J Exp Psychol Hum Percept Perform 40:145–158. doi:10.1037/a0033125
Wagner SM, Nusbaum H, Goldin-Meadow S (2004) Probing the mental representation of gesture: Is handwaving spatial? J Mem Lang 50:395–407. doi:10.1016/j.jml.2004.01.002
Wickens CD (2002) Multiple resources and performance prediction. Theor Issues Ergon Sci 3:159–177. doi:10.1080/14639220210123806
Wickens CD (2008) Multiple resources and mental workload. J Hum Factors Ergon Soc 50:449–455. doi:10.1518/001872008X288394
Xu J, Gannon PJ, Emmorey K et al (2009) Symbolic gestures and spoken language are processed by a common neural system. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 106:20664–20669. doi:10.1073/pnas.0909197106
Acknowledgements
We would like to thank Dr. Greg Funke, Allen Dukes, and Jon Wiltshire for their collaboration and technical expertise in adapting the Quadra program for this research.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Epling, S.L., Blakely, M.J., Russell, P.N. et al. Interference between a fast-paced spatial puzzle task and verbal memory demands. Exp Brain Res 235, 1899–1907 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00221-017-4938-z
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00221-017-4938-z