Determinants of performance benefits in multiple action control

需要两个动作的任务条件通常意味着比仅需要一个动作的任务条件（即，双重成本）。然而，今天的多重行动要求显然是现代社会的一个事实，因为它们几乎发生在所有类型的（工作和休闲）情况下，几乎无法避免。因此，当前认知科学研究的主要焦点，即指出功能和/或结构的限制和多个动作控制的有害后果，迫切需要一个更积极的方法来补充。具体来说，了解如何最佳地科普这些情况并发现多动作控制的潜在好处似乎至关重要。令人惊讶的是，所有多动作控制的主要理论框架基本上都是为了解释性能成本而设计的。本提案的目的是揭示更多的潜在因素，可能会把性能成本转化为效益的背景下，多动作控制。该提案的第二个主要特点是在多动作控制的背景下，眼睛运动的重点。虽然几乎所有涉及多动作控制的现实生活中的活动都需要有效的眼动调节，但令人惊讶的是，很少有研究专注于这个问题。来自我们实验室的数据（Huestegge & Koch，2014，Acta Psychologica）表明，眼动特别适合于解决双重动作益处的问题，通过提供在其他同时动作需求的背景下精心操纵动作的自动性（这里：扫视）的可能性。这项工作表明，决定成本或收益结果的一个关键因素是抑制特定行为所需的抑制量。进一步的数据表明，这些机制可以推广到其他动作控制领域，也就是说，这种现象不仅限于眼球运动。这个项目的一个目标是仔细检查多个动作的好处，以推进理论化的认知机制背后的多个动作控制的潜在决定因素。

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.