The effects of two matched memory tasks on concurrent finger tapping

In a dual task experiment, subjects were instructed to perform a single finger tapping task whilst either, concurrently memorizing words appearing randomly on a screen in front of them, or concurrently memorizing the positions of the words. Analysis of percentage change scores revealed a significant tapping hand by task interaction; subjects showed a significantly larger left- than right- hand decrement when the task required memorizing the positions of the words and a non-significantly larger right- than left-hand decrement when the task required memorizing the words. These results suggest that the nature of the task demands determined the pattern of interference observed.