Extensive practice can significantly reduce dual-task costs (i.e., impaired performance under dual-task conditions compared with single-task conditions) and, thus, improve dual-task performance. Among others, these practice effects are attributed to an optimization of executive function skills that are necessary for coordinating tasks that overlap in time. In detail, this optimization of dual-task coordination skills is associated with the efficient instantiation of component task information in working memory at the onset of a dual-task trial. In the present paper, we review empirical findings on three critical predictions of this memory hypothesis. These predictions concern (1) the preconditions for the acquisition and transfer of coordination skills due to practice, (2) the role of task complexity and difficulty, and (3) the impact of age-related decline in working memory capacity on dual-task optimization.

广泛的练习可以显着降低双任务成本（即，与单任务条件相比，双任务条件下的性能受损），从而提高双任务性能。其中，这些练习效果归因于执行功能技能的优化，这是协调时间重叠的任务所必需的。具体来说，这种双任务协调技能的优化与双任务试验开始时工作记忆中组件任务信息的有效实例化相关。在本文中，我们回顾了该记忆假说的三个关键预测的实证结果。这些预测涉及（1）通过练习获得和转移协调技能的先决条件，（2）任务复杂性和难度的作用，以及（3）与年龄相关的工作记忆容量下降对双任务的影响优化。