Queuing network modeling of the psychological refractory period (PRP).

Full Abstract

The psychological refractory period (PRP) is a basic but important form of dual-task information processing. Existing serial or parallel processing models of PRP have successfully accounted for a variety of PRP phenomena; however, each also encounters at least 1 experimental counterexample to its predictions or modeling mechanisms. This article describes a queuing network-based mathematical model of PRP that is able to model various experimental findings in PRP with closed-form equations including all of the major counterexamples encountered by the existing models with fewer or equal numbers of free parameters. This modeling work also offers an alternative theoretical account for PRP and demonstrates the importance of the theoretical concepts of "queuing" and "hybrid cognitive networks" in understanding cognitive architecture and multitask performance.

Author information

Author/s: Wu, Changxu (C); Liu, Yili (Y);

Affiliation: Department of Industrial and Operations Engineering, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI 48109, USA. changxu(-atsign-)buffalo.edu

Journal and publication information

Publication Type: Journal Article; Research Support, U.S. Gov't, Non-P.H.S.

Journal: Psychological review (Psychol Rev), published in United States. (Language: eng)

Reference: 2008-Oct; vol 115 (issue 4) : pp 913-54

Dates: Created 2008/10/28; Completed 2008/11/18;

PMID: 18954209, status: MEDLINE (last retrieval date: 2/18/2009, IMS Date: )

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