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Strategic attention and decision control support prospective memory in a complex dual-task environment
Citation
Boag, RJ and Strickland, L and Loft, S and Heathcote, A, Strategic attention and decision control support prospective memory in a complex dual-task environment, Cognition, 191 pp. 1-24. ISSN 0010-0277 (2019) [Refereed Article]
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Copyright Statement
Crown Copyright © 2019 Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
Official URL: https://www.journals.elsevier.com/cognition
DOI: doi:10.1016/j.cognition.2019.05.011
Abstract
Human performance in complex multiple-task environments depends critically on the interplay
between cognitive control and cognitive capacity. In this paper we propose a tractable
computational model of how cognitive control and capacity influence the speed and accuracy of
decisions made in the event-based prospective memory (PM) paradigm, and in doing so test a
new quantitative formulation that measures two distinct components of cognitive capacity (gain
and focus) that apply generally to choices among two or more options. Consistent with prior
work, individuals used proactive control (increased ongoing task thresholds under PM load) and
reactive control (inhibited ongoing task accumulation rates to PM items) to support PM
performance. Individuals used cognitive gain to increase the amount of resources allocated to the
ongoing task under time pressure and PM load. However, when demands exceeded the capacity
limit, resources were reallocated (shared) between ongoing task and PM processes. Extending previous work, individuals used cognitive focus to control the quality of processing for the
ongoing and PM tasks based on the particular demand and payoff structure of the environment
(e.g., higher focus for higher priority tasks; lower focus under high time pressure and with PM
load). Our model provides the first detailed quantitative understanding of cognitive gain and
focus as they apply to evidence accumulation models, which – along with cognitive control
mechanisms – support decision-making in complex multiple-task environments.
Item Details
| Item Type: | Refereed Article |
|---|---|
| Keywords: | cognitive control, cognitive capacity, prospective memory, selective attention, multi-tasking, Bayesian evidence accumulation model |
| Research Division: | Psychology |
| Research Group: | Cognitive and computational psychology |
| Research Field: | Decision making |
| Objective Division: | Expanding Knowledge |
| Objective Group: | Expanding knowledge |
| Objective Field: | Expanding knowledge in psychology |
| UTAS Author: | Heathcote, A (Professor Andrew Heathcote) |
| ID Code: | 134790 |
| Year Published: | 2019 |
| Web of Science® Times Cited: | 21 |
| Deposited By: | Psychology |
| Deposited On: | 2019-09-05 |
| Last Modified: | 2020-04-17 |
| Downloads: | 24 View Download Statistics |
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