Figure 1
Schema illustrating the application of the Theory of Event Coding to dual-task performance. Task 1 is assumed to require a left- or right-hand response to the green or red color of a stimulus, and Task 2 is assumed to require a left- or right-foot response to the letters O or X, respectively. The possible responses are represented by bindings of sensorimotor features (event files) that compete for action control (indicated by mutually inhibitory connections). The example shows only those features that are relevant for the tasks and that (therefore) receive intentional weighting from selection criteria. Goals consist of selection criteria that operate through intentional weighting (i.e., by increasing the weights of task-relevant dimensions). These are matched against the features included in all available event files, inducing stronger activation of criterial-matching feature codes and, as a consequence, of the event file containing them. The impact of criteria on the activation of event files and the degree of competition between event files is modulated by metacontrol, which varies between high persistence and high flexibility, maximizing or minimizing impact and competition, respectively.