Department of Psychology, University of Graz, Universitätsplatz 2, 8010, Graz, Austria.
Department of Psychology, University of Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany.
Psychon Bull Rev. 2023 Dec;30(6):2250-2261. doi: 10.3758/s13423-023-02312-3. Epub 2023 Jun 13.
Various modern tools, such as smartphones, allow for cognitive offloading (i.e., the externalization of cognitive processes). In this study, we examined the use and consequences of cognitive offloading in demanding situations in which people perform multiple tasks concurrently-mimicking the requirements of daily life. In a preregistered study, we adapted the dual-task paradigm so that one of the tasks allowed for cognitive offloading. As a primary task, our participants (N = 172) performed the pattern copy task-a highly demanding working memory task that allows for offloading at various degrees. In this task, we manipulated the temporal costs of offloading. Concurrently, half of the participants responded to a secondary N-back task. As our main research question, we investigated the impact of offloading behavior on secondary task performance. We observed that more pronounced offloading in the condition without temporal costs was accompanied by a more accurate performance in the N-back task. Furthermore, the necessity to respond to the N-back task increased offloading behavior. These results suggest an interplay between offloading and secondary task performance: in demanding situations, individuals increasingly use cognitive offloading, which releases internal resources that can then be devoted to improving performance in other, concurrent tasks.
各种现代工具，如智能手机，可以实现认知卸载（即将认知过程外化）。在这项研究中，我们考察了在人们同时执行多项任务的要求苛刻的情况下（模拟日常生活的要求），认知卸载的使用和后果。在一项预先注册的研究中，我们改编了双重任务范式，使得其中一个任务可以进行认知卸载。作为主要任务，我们的参与者（N=172）执行模式复制任务-这是一项高度要求的工作记忆任务，可以在不同程度上进行卸载。在这项任务中，我们操纵了卸载的时间成本。同时，一半的参与者要回应次要的 N 回任务。作为我们的主要研究问题，我们调查了卸载行为对次要任务表现的影响。我们观察到，在没有时间成本的情况下，更明显的卸载伴随着 N 回任务中更准确的表现。此外，对 N 回任务的响应需求增加了卸载行为。这些结果表明卸载和次要任务表现之间存在相互作用：在要求苛刻的情况下，个体越来越多地使用认知卸载，这释放了内部资源，然后可以将这些资源用于提高其他同时进行的任务的表现。
