Determinants of performance benefits in multiple action control

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Task conditions requiring two actions usually imply worse performance (in terms of increased response times or errors) than task conditions requiring only one action (i.e., dual-action costs). However, multiple action requirements today are clearly a fact of modern society since they occur in almost all types of (work and leisure) situations and can hardly be avoided. Thus, the major focus of current research in cognitive sciences, namely pointing out functional and/or structural limitations and detrimental consequences of multiple action control, urgently needs to be complemented by a more positive approach. Specifically, it seems vital to understand how to cope optimally with these situations and to uncover potential benefits of multiple action control. Surprisingly, all major theoretical frameworks of multiple action control were basically designed to explain performance costs. It is the aim of the present proposal to shed more light on underlying factors that may turn performance costs into benefits in the context of multiple action control.A second major characteristic of the proposal is a focus on eye movements in the context of multiple action control. While nearly all real-life activities involving multiple action control require an efficient regulation of eye movements, surprisingly little research has been devoted to focus on this issue. Data from our lab (Huestegge & Koch, 2014, Acta Psychologica) demonstrated that eye movements are especially suited to address the issue of dual-action benefits by means of offering the possibility to meticulously manipulate the automaticity of an action (here: the saccade) in the context of other simultaneous action demands. This work suggested that one crucial factor determining the outcome of either costs or benefits is the amount of inhibition needed to suppress specific actions. Further data showed that these mechanisms can be generalized to other action control domains, that is, the phenomenon is not restricted to eye movements. A goal of this project is to closely examine potential determinants of multiple action benefits in order to advance theorizing on cognitive mechanisms underlying multiple action control.