A componential analysis of changes in human information processing during the development of automaticity

摘要

This report is concerned with the changes in human information processing which occur with practice. We are addressing the issue of what mechanisms underlie the development of automaticity and the manner in which these changes are manifested in the human information processing system. The approach taken is to decompose each task into its processing components and evaluate how these change with practice. Three experiments are included in the proposal. Experiment 1 examines the changes in information processing when two tasks -- a memory search task and a recognition running memory task -- are performed concurrently. Experiment 2 examines the time-course of the development of automaticity when two tasks -- a memory search task and a pursuit step-tracking task -- are performed both separately and concurrently. Experiment 3 contrasts two theories of automaticity -- process-based and memory-based.