Central information processing in dual task performance

为什么同时做两件事就这么难呢？许多研究人员一致认为，中央认知加工的局限性是导致这一问题的原因，过去20年的大多数证据表明，反应选择过程中存在严格的局限性或瓶颈。与这些传统的发现相反，最近关于双重任务绩效的研究表明，两个任务的反应信息可以并行产生，打破了中央认知加工中这一单一任务的限制。这项研究提案检查了这些最新的发现，以测试这种典型的一次一个中央过程的并行操作可以发生的程度。通过了解我们的大脑如何同时注意和执行两项任务，我们可以对日常情况做出更好的决定(例如开车打电话)，并应用这些知识帮助我们了解注意力障碍(例如注意力缺陷障碍)的问题所在。

Why is it so difficult to do two things at once? Many researchers have converged on the idea that a limitation in central cognitive processing is responsible, with most evidence over the last twenty years pointing to a strict limitation, or bottleneck, in the process of response selection. In contrast with these conventional findings, recent research in dual task performance has suggested that response information for two tasks can be produced in parallel, breaking this single-task limit in central cognitive processing. This research proposal examines these recent findings to test the extent to which this parallel operation of typically one-at-a-time central processes can occur. By understanding how our brains pay attention to and perform two tasks at the same time, we can make better decisions about everyday situations (such as driving while talking on the phone), and apply this knowledge to help us understand what goes wrong in disorders of attention (e.g. Attention Deficit Disorder).