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Age differences and divided attention: is there a general deficit?

Anik de Ribaupierre1, Catherine Ludwig

  • 1Faculty of Psychology and Educational Sciences, University of Geneva, 40, Bd Carl-Vogt, CH-1205 Geneva, Switzerland. Anik.DeRibaupierre@pse.unige.ch

Experimental Aging Research
|May 9, 2003
PubMed
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Older adults showed age differences in task performance, but not all tasks revealed higher cognitive costs. Age effects diminished when single-task performance was controlled, suggesting no generalized increase in divided attention costs.

Area of Science:

  • Cognitive Psychology
  • Neuroscience
  • Human Development

Background:

  • Investigating age-related cognitive decline is crucial for understanding aging.
  • Simultaneously executing multiple tasks (dual-tasking) is a key measure of cognitive function.
  • Previous research suggests potential age-related deficits in divided attention and coordination.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To examine age differences in dual-task performance.
  • To determine if cognitive costs of dual-tasking increase with age.
  • To explore the relationship between single-task performance, dual-task costs, and age.

Main Methods:

  • Recruited 81 young adults and 86 older adults.
  • Administered nine distinct tasks under both single-task and dual-task conditions.

Related Experiment Videos

  • Analyzed performance differences and cognitive costs (dual-task costs) between age groups.

    • Main Results:

    • Significant age differences in raw performance were observed across all tasks.
    • A larger cognitive cost for older adults was found in only four of the nine tasks.
    • Controlling for single-task performance substantially reduced age effects on dual-task costs.

    Conclusions:

    • The findings do not support a general increase in divided attention costs with age.
    • Age-related differences in dual-tasking may be task-specific rather than generalized.
    • Coordination costs do not appear to universally increase across all dual-tasking scenarios in older adults.