Task Prioritization in Dual-Tasking: Instructions versus Preferences

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.

多任务处理过程中，任务优先级在绩效权衡中的作用已受到广泛关注。然而，目前学界对人类是否存在任务偏好、若存在则该偏好是否与优先级指令相悖这两个问题仍知之甚少。本研究采用高速驾驶游戏与听觉记忆任务，开展了三项实验。在实验1中，被试未接收优先级指令，需完成单任务与双任务条件的不同序列任务，任务绩效通过被试对自身偏好的回溯性报告进行评估。在实验2与实验3中，研究人员将被试报告的上述偏好转化为优先级指令。结果表明，在实验情境下，个体在任务优先级偏好上存在显著差异，且该偏好可被优先级指令覆盖，但仅在被试经历更多双任务暴露后方可实现。额外的心理努力测量结果显示，绩效权衡会对心理努力程度产生影响。本研究基于对上述研究结果的解读，探讨了将霍基补偿控制模型（Hockey’s Compensatory Control Model）融入串联认知理论（Threaded Cognition Theory）的拓展方向。