The effect of changing task complexity on the psychological refractory period

By manipulating the relative complexity of each response in a psychological refractory period paradigm, it was hoped that a distinction would be made between serial and parallel models of information processing. 2 exps were performed with 14 right-handed male Ss/exp., the apparatus used was a RT device consisting primarily of a joy stick set into a diamond shaped opening cut in a table top and a hand held response button. In exp 1, the complexity of the second response was manipulated and in exp 2 the complexity of the first response was manipulated. Besults generally supported a serial processing model, such as the one proposed by Helford (1967). Changing the complexity of the second response had no effect on the ST to the first stimulus, also, changing the complexity of the first response increased the delay in responding to the second signal. The existence of an additional delay in responding to the second signal, possibly due to a fb or attention-paying element, was shown by the data. However, practicing the first task in exp 2 did not reduce this additional delay. It was concluded that increasing task complexity may not always have a corresponding increase in RT and that subjective response strategy could possibly produce either serial or parallel processing artefacts thereby indicating that a more flexible model rather than the restrictive serial or parallel model is needed.Education, Faculty ofCurriculum and Pedagogy (EDCP), Department ofGraduat