Handbook of Human Multitasking

This handbook on human multitasking provides an integrative overview on simultaneous and sequential multitasking and thus combines theorizing on dual task limitations as well as costs related to task switching. In addition to a wide range of empirical findings and their theoretical integration, the editors provide a number of applications of multitasking, like training, interindividual differences and applied research in traffic and health psychology and music expertise.

The book is suitable for people interested in multitasking, that is, for researchers and graduate students of cognitive psychology, movement science, sport psychology, cognitive neuroscience, cognitive and neurological rehabilitation, aging sciences, and broader cognitive science.

Dr. Andrea Kiesel received her Ph.D. in Psychology in 2003 from the University of Würzburg. She stayed at the University of Würzburg for her habilitation (2008) and got a permanent lecturer position there in 2010. In 2015, she joined Freiburg University as a full professor of cognitive psychology. Her research area is cognition, action and sustainability. Among other academic activities, Dr. Kiesel has been associate editor of JEP: Learning, Memory & Cognition (2012-2017) and is currently president elect of the European Society of Cognitive Psychology (ESCoP). She receives continuous DFG funding, and together with Dr. Koch and Dr. Müller she initiated a large scale national DFG Priority Program on Human Multitasking (PP 1772). Dr. Kiesel is widely published with more than 130 peer-review articles (including two comprehensive review papers in Psychological Bulletin).

Dr. Leif Johannsen is an expert for sensorimotor control of posture and balance during states of both standing and walking. Johannsen¿s research in recent years has focussed on balance during states of standing and walking, especially in the context of haptic interactions with the environment and other human individuals. He worked as a neuropsychologist and researcher at the Hertie Institute for Clinical Brain Research, Department of Cognitive Neurology in Tübingen (Germany), where he completed his PhD in Behavioural Neuroscience in 2005. After more than a decade of successful post-doctoral research at the University of Birmingham, School of Psychology, and the Technical University Munich, Faculty of Sport and Health Sciences, he was appointed as senior lecturer in Acquired Brain Injury Rehabilitation at the University of East Anglia (UEA), Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences in November 2016. In November 2018, Johannsen joined the RWTH Aachen University as senior researcher and scientific coordinator for the 2nd funding period of the DFG Priority Programme 1772 ("Multitasking"). In 2021, he completed his habilitation at the Technical University Munich, Faculty of Sport and Health Sciences. He has currently published 43 peer-reviewed articles and 2 book chapters.

Iring Koch received his Ph.D. in Psychology in 1998 from the University of Würzburg. He spent seven years (1998-2005) at the Max Planck Institute in Munich in the Cognition and Action Unit, headed by Prof. Wolfgang Prinz. In 2005, he joined RWTH Aachen University as a full professor of cognitive psychology. His research area is cognitive control and action selection. Among other academic activities, Dr. Koch has been associate editor of JEP: Learning, Memory & Cognition (2007-2012) and he served as member of the DFG Review Board (2016-2020). He receives continuous DFG funding, and together with Dr. Kiesel and Dr. Müller he initiated a large scale national DFG Priority Program on Human Multitasking (PP 1772). Currently he has morethan 200 peer-review articles (including two comprehensive review papers in Psychological Bulletin) published.

Hermann Müller received his Ph.D. in Sport Science in 1995 from Saarland University. He continued as Post Doctorate at Saarland University until habilitation in 2001. After six more years as assistant professor, he joined Justus Liebig University Gießen as a full time professor of training and exercise science in sport. His research area is motor control and learning. Among other academic activities, Dr. Müller has been associate editor of German Journal of Exercise and Sport Research (2012-2017 and has over 30 peer-review articles (including a comprehensive review paper in Psychological Bulletin) and more than 50 chapters published. His work is funded by the DFG and together with Dr. Kiesel and Dr. Koch he initiated a large scale national DFG Priority Program on Human Multitasking (PP 1772).

Part 1 Simultaneous Multitasking.- Dual-task performance with simple tasks.- Multitasking during continuous task demands: the cognitive costs of concurrent sensorimotor activities.- Part 2 Sequential Multitasking.- Task switching: Cognitive control in sequential multitasking.- Task Interruptiones.- Language Multitasking.- Part 3 Neural Basis of multitasking.- The neural basis of simultaneous multitasking.- The contribution of functional brain imaging to the understanding of cognitive processes underlying task switching.- Part 4.- Multitasking Training.- Training Based on Multitasking - With a Specific Focus on Motor-Cognitive Multitasking.- The Multitasking Motorist.- Multitasking in healthy aging and neurodegeneration: Experimental findings and health-related applications.- Music training, dance training, and multitasking.