Abstract
Subjects were required to simultaneously tap two button switches, at two different distances apart, while at the same time performing a running memory span (RMS) task of either words or faces. Performance on the button-pressing task was assessed in terms of both speed and consistency. When the switches were close together, both of these measures showed leftand right-hand performance to be selectively disrupted by concurrent performance of faces and words memory tasks, respectively. With the switches further apart, selective disruption of the contralateral hand occurred only with thespeed index. Using the consistency index, however, bilateral disruption was observed with both types of RMS tasks. Error and d’ performance on the words and faces RMS tasks was only disrupted by contralateral manual activity. Some implications of these results for neuropsychological models of brain lateralization of function are discussed.
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McFarland, K., & Ashton, R.The influence of concurrent task difficulty on manual performance. Manuscript submitted for publication. 1977.
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McFarland, K., Ashton, R. The lateralized effects of concurrent cognitive and motor performance. Perception & Psychophysics 23, 344–349 (1978). https://doi.org/10.3758/BF03199720
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.3758/BF03199720