Choice and Uncertainty Clog the Bottleneck of Central Processing

Jami Milton Dantzker

doi:10.1371/journal.pbio.0040244

Abstract

Choice and Uncertainty Clog the Bottleneck of Central Processing

Highlights

In today’s fast-paced computer age, multitasking has become routine
The second task engages only after the first has passed through the bottleneck and does not slow down the reaction time on the first task, even when the second is presented rapidly after the first, know as short stimulus onset asynchrony (SOA)
Last year in PLoS Biology, researchers Mariano Sigman and Stanislas Dehaene reported that, during dualtasks, response times to the first task lengthened compared with performing the first task alone, independently of SOA

Summary

Introduction

In today’s fast-paced computer age, multitasking has become routine. But even the most skillful multitaskers can’t “think” about two tasks at exactly the same time. A long-standing hypothesis holds that the central decision stage is a passive bottleneck, where two competing tasks are handled on a first-come, first-served basis. The second task engages only after the first has passed through the bottleneck and does not slow down the reaction time on the first task, even when the second is presented rapidly after the first, know as short stimulus onset asynchrony (SOA).

Results

Conclusion