Ideomotor contraints of multitasking

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When humans try to simultaneously carry out more than one action, this typically leads to a drop of performance, compared to carrying out each action alone. This observation is commonly ascribed to a response selection bottleneck. Research in recent years has shown, however, that the reconcilability of two actions is strongly affected by the sensory consequences that these actions bring about. This observation corresponds to ideomotor models of action control that ascribe a crucial function to the anticipation of action effects in action selection. The research proposal suggests a memory-based model, which tries to bring together these observations together. It assumes a limited effect-retrieval bottleneck. The project aims to test predictions of the model by systematic variations of action consequences in classical dual-task settings such as the psychological refractory period paradigm. Moreover, it tests predictions regarding the specificity of action control and imagery. The project will contribute to the integration of traditional stage-oriented models of information processing and concepts form ideomotor theory.