Multi-tasking in movement sequence learning - the role of the control mode, coding and the sequence representation

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In some situations people are able to perform a movement sequence while performing another task at the same time, for example driving a car and carrying on a conversation. However, in other situations it is difficult to perform a sequence while another task is running simultaneously, for example writing the grocery list and carrying on a conversation. A challenging question is to know why in some situations sequential behavior can be performed in multi-task situations and in other situations not. A more detailed view at the driving example shows that driving a car involves a selection of actions intermittently. Some of the time the driver is having a conversation, he/she is may be producing pre-planned sequences rather than choosing new ones. In the psychological science literature Pashler (1992) proposed that during this time window it is possible that the structural and functional limitations of the central cognitive processes (e.g. the bottleneck) are freed up to perform other tasks simultaneously. This is also in accordance with the planning and control model proposed in the motor control and learning literature. According to this model the goal of the planning system is to select and to initiate an appropriate motor program to reach the movement goals. Planning also determines the initial kinematic parameterization of the movement sequence including timing and velocity. Performing a secondary task after finishing the planning process will not result in dual-task interference. Another interesting feature of multi-tasking is related to the question of the interaction between planning and the linkage between two tasks of different dimensions. For example, a triple jump athlete verbally supports the sequence of his/her jump by 'hop-step-jump'. In this case different modalities (verbal/motor) support the learning of the sequence. If the two tasks are consistently combined, both tasks will be linked. The interesting theoretical question is to determine, to which degree the different tasks co-vary and if the linkage will be a part of the planning process. In three experimental series these questions on multi-tasking will be investigated.