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    The dynamics of stability and flexibility: How attentional and cognitive control support multitasking under time pressure

    Access Status
    Fulltext not available
    Authors
    Boag, Russell
    Strickland, Luke
    Heathcote, Andrew
    Loft, Shayne
    Date
    2025
    Type
    Journal Article
    
    Metadata
    Show full item record
    Citation
    Boag, R. and Strickland, L. and Heathcote, A. and Loft, S. 2025. The dynamics of stability and flexibility: How attentional and cognitive control support multitasking under time pressure. Journal of Experimental Psychology: General.
    Source Title
    Journal of Experimental Psychology: General
    DOI
    10.1037/xge0001749
    ISSN
    0096-3445
    Faculty
    Faculty of Business and Law
    School
    Future of Work Institute
    Funding and Sponsorship
    http://purl.org/au-research/grants/arc/DP200101842
    http://purl.org/au-research/grants/arc/DE230100171
    http://purl.org/au-research/grants/arc/DP2101003130
    http://purl.org/au-research/grants/arc/FT190100812
    URI
    http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/97502
    Collection
    • Curtin Research Publications
    Abstract

    Managing the trade-off between stability (robustness to interference) and flexibility (readiness to adapt to change) places considerable demands on human attention, cognitive control, and meta-control processes. However, little is known about the cognitive mechanisms driving stability–flexibility adaptation in multitasking contexts, and such mechanisms have implications for effective task completion in everyday life and in complex work settings, particularly when individuals enter performance “red zones” where task demands exceed capacity to manage them. We present a computational model that explains how individuals, in a cognitively demanding prospective memory (PM) paradigm, cognitively adapt to the relative prevalence of competing task responses to achieve more stable or more flexible performance under conditions in and out of the “red zone” (high vs. low time pressure). The model explained observed ongoing- and PM-task performance in terms of the quality and quantity of attentional capacity directed to each task and context-sensitive differences in proactive and reactive cognitive control. The results are consistent with a view of stability and flexibility as potentially independent dimensions of control, the management of which is subject to human processing/capacity constraints. The model furthers understanding of human cognitive flexibility, with potential implications for humans working in dynamic, information-rich settings requiring behavioral flexibility.

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