Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Backward Compatibility Effects In Younger And Older Adults, Alan Hartley, François Maquestiaux, Sara B. Festini, Kathryn Frazier, Patricia J. Krimmer

Scripps Faculty Publications and Research

In many dual-task situations, responses to the second of two tasks are slowed when the time between tasks is short. The response-selection bottleneck model of dual-task performance accounts for this phenomenon by assuming that central processing of the second task is blocked by a bottleneck until central processing of Task 1 is complete. This assumption could be called into question if it could be demonstrated that the response to Task 2 affected the central processing of Task 1, a backward response compatibility effect. Such effects are well-established in younger adults. Backward compatibility effects in older (as well as younger) adults …