Individual differences in secondary task performance

Abstract

The purpose of this research was to use secondary task performance as a predictor of performance on a difficult primary task. Reaction time (RT) to secondary probes that occurred during the rehearsal period of an easy memory task were used to measure spare capacity associated with the memory task. This measure was then correlated with performance on a harder version of the same memory task. Experiments 1·4 involved a paired associate memory task. Probe RT was sensitive to the difficulty of the paired associate task, and analysis of individual differences showed that probe RT during the easy version of the task was correlated with performance on a harder version of the task. Experiment 4 also utilized a spatial memory task. Probe RT was less sensitive to the demands of the spatial memory task, and in that case, the "easy-to-hard" prediction was not successful. 10This article is concerned with performance on a dual task in which one component is designated as primary and the other as secondary. Suppose that there is something analogous to "mental energy," an attentional resource that is required for a variety of tasks (Kahneman, 1973). If two tasks are performed concurrently, with one designated as primary and the other as secondary, then the resource demands of the primary task should be fulfilled first. Therefore, secondary task performance should provide a measure of the spare capacity not required by the primary task (Kerr, 1973). Secondary task performance should decrease as the capacity demands of the primary task increase. The most common uses of secondary task measures have been to compare the demands of various stages in the execution of a primary task (e.g., Johnston, Greenberg, Fisher, & Martin, 1970;Logan, 1978;Posner & Boies, 1971) and to compare the demands of the same primary task under various conditions (e.g., Britton, Westbrook, & Holdredge, 1978;. Another use of secondary task measures has been to differentiate among individuals who vary in skill on the primary task. Those individuals who are highly skilled on the primary task should require a smaller proportion of their total resources to perform the task and should, therefore, have more spare capacity available to perform the secondary task. This use of secondary task measures has This research was supported by the Office of Naval Research through Contract N00014-77'{:.Q225 to the University of Washington, Earl Hunt, principal investigator. We would like to thank Beth Kerr for advice on design and interpretation and comments on an earlier draft. We would also like to thank Janet Davidson, Simon Farr, and Colene McKee for assistance in executing and analyzing theseexperiments. Requests for reprints should be sent to Marcy Lansman, Department of Psychology, NI-25, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington 98195.Copyright 1982 Psychonomic Society, Inc.been reported more often in the applied than in the experimental literature (e.g., Brown, 1968).The assertion that primary and secondary tasks compete for mental resources has a further implic...

The structure of the relationship between attention and intelligence

“…There is some evidence supporting this expectation (Roberts, Beh, Spilsbury, & Stankov, 1991;Roberts, Beh, & Stankov, 1988;Stankov, 1988a). However, the number of studies which led to a negative result is also considerable (Fogarty & Stankov, 1988;Lansman & Hunt, 1982;Lansman, Poltrock, & Hunt, 1983;Myors, Stankov, & Oliphant, 1989;Stankov, 1989).…”

Cognitive Load During Problem Solving: Effects on Learning

“…They found that the second-ary task could be used to indicate the cognitive capacity required by the primary task. Lansman and Hunt (1982) found that a secondary, reaction time task could be used to measure how much spare capacity was available while engaged on an easy primary task. This, in turn, could be used to predict performance on a subsequent, more difficult task.…”

The Structured Process Modeling Method (SPMM) what is the best way for me to construct a process model?

“…Therefore, this metric was adopted to measure the overall cognitive load. In order to measure cognitive load at a more instantaneous level, a dual-task measure for cognitive load was created [64].…”