Test Your Multitasking Ability at Hal Pashler's DualTask.org

Professor of psychology at the University of California at San Diego Hal Pashler created a Web site in 2005 called DualTask.org. At this site, visitors can challenge their dual task performance abilities with some Java- and Shockwave-based demonstration applications Dr. Pashler posts there. If you decide to try them out, be forewarned that the applications load slowly and may need to be reloaded to function properly. Also be forewarned that Dr. Pashler is not a software designer, so the design of the applications are not stellar.

One of the demonstrations is titled Visual Bottleneck I. Like some of the experiments I've described in earlier posts, it tests each user's ability to perceive and respond to multiple stimuli including audible pitches and alpha characters. Unlike the recent, real experiments, all responses are motor-based and have no verbal options. When I initially tried the demonstration, I performed (by my judgement) poorly. After a few practice attempts I improved slightly--but not much. I wonder if I practiced it a few thousand times how much better I could do and whether my performance on those tasks would transfer to other tasks.

As I played Visual Bottleneck I, I noticed that I was able to perceive each stimulus with no difficulty. Mentally, I knew what I saw/heard and understood what I needed to do. However, when I tried to match my perceptions and understandings with appropriate motor responses, I struggled. As soon as I had responded to one stimulus, a new one would be presented. It seemed to me that my execution of the motor responses was making it difficult for me to queue my next response. I'm not sure whether my experience is a manifestation of the response selection bottleneck or not. Maybe it will become clearer to me if I try the demonstration and monitor my thought processes a little more.

There is another concept I've come across in my research called "attentional blink," and I wonder if my difficulties were related to that rather than the response selection bottleneck. I also wonder how attentional blink relates to dual task performance.

The due date for our final paper is fast approaching, and though I feel like I've learned a great deal, I still don't feel like I know enough to adequately synthesize the research, predict where it's heading, and make an argument for any particular position. I'm hoping two more weeks of reading and reflecting will do the trick. Any advice for rapidly becoming an expert?