Department of Psychology, Max Planck Institute For Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences, Leipzig, Germany.
Exp Brain Res. 2011 Jun;211(3-4):387-96. doi: 10.1007/s00221-011-2703-2. Epub 2011 May 5.
A strong assumption shared by major theoretical approaches to cognition posits that the human cognitive system has a limited capacity for information processing. Evidence supporting this claim comes from the dual-task paradigm in which one cognitive system has to process two tasks simultaneously. In this study, we examined whether bottleneck-like processing can also be elicited when a dual task is shared between two individuals. Under dual-task instructions giving priority to Task 1, we found evidence of a psychological refractory period effect in dual-task and joint-task conditions. Under equal priority instructions, we replicated the finding of a psychological refractory period effect in the dual-task, but not in the joint-task condition. These findings are in line with the assumption that a social psychological refractory period effect can be induced across two individuals. We suggest that this effect is due to task-specific monitoring requirements. We discuss our findings with respect to both dual-task and joint action theories.
主流认知理论方法都有一个强有力的假设，即人类认知系统处理信息的能力有限。支持这一说法的证据来自于双重任务范式，在该范式中，一个认知系统必须同时处理两个任务。在这项研究中，我们研究了当两个人共同承担一项双重任务时，是否也会引发瓶颈式加工。在给予任务 1 优先的双重任务指令下，我们在双重任务和联合任务条件下都发现了心理不应期效应的证据。在平等优先级指令下，我们在双重任务中复制了心理不应期效应的发现，但在联合任务条件下没有。这些发现与社会心理不应期效应可以在两个人之间产生的假设是一致的。我们认为，这种效应是由于特定于任务的监控要求。我们根据双重任务和联合行动理论讨论了我们的发现。
