Related Experiment Video
Updated: Mar 2, 2026
Measuring the Switch Cost of Smartphone Use While Walking
Published on: April 30, 2020
Attentional load of walking in children aged 7-12 and in adults
Guillaume Chauvel1, Estelle Palluel1, Arthur Brandao1
1Univ Grenoble Alpes, TIMC-IMAG, F-38000 Grenoble, France; CNRS, TIMC-IMAG, F-38000 Grenoble, France.
Insights
Children require significant attention for walking, with visual reliance decreasing as they age. Gait improves linearly from age 7 to adulthood, especially during dual-task walking.
Area of Science:
- Neuroscience
- Developmental Psychology
- Biomechanics
Background:
- Walking requires attentional resources, but the developmental trajectory of these demands in children is not well understood.
- Previous research has not fully elucidated how cognitive load impacts gait in developing individuals.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the attentional resources needed for walking in children aged 7–12 years and adults.
- To examine how gait parameters change under different cognitive (dual-task) conditions across development.
Main Methods:
- 53 children (7-9 and 10-12 years) and 18 adults performed walking trials under single-task (control) and dual-task conditions (watching a video, listening to audio).
- Gait parameters were measured using a GAITRite® system.
- Cognitive task engagement was verified through post-task questions.
Main Results:
- Gait velocity and step duration increased, while cadence and double limb support duration decreased with age from 7 years to adulthood during dual-task walking.
- These gait improvements showed a linear trend with age.
- Dual-task interference was greater for the video task than the audio task and diminished with increasing age.
Conclusions:
- Walking demands substantial attentional resources in children, with a notable reliance on visual processing.
- Children's gait control matures significantly between 7 years and adulthood, showing linear improvements in dual-task scenarios.
- The findings highlight the developing nature of gait control and attentional resource allocation in children.
Abstract:
The amount of attentional resources necessary to walk in children, and how they evolve during childhood remains unclear. This study examined children's gait parameters in different dual-task conditions. 53 children, divided into two age groups (7-9 and 10-12 years old), and 18 adults walked on a mat in three different cognitive conditions: watching a video (video condition), listening its soundtrack (audio condition), and without any additional task (control condition). Questions were asked at the end of the video and audio conditions to make sure that participants were paying attention to the stimuli. A GAITRite® system was used for recording the gait data. Results showed an increase of velocity and step duration, and a decrease of cadence and percentage of double limb support duration from 7 years of age to adulthood during dual-task walking compared with single-task walking. This improvement seemed to be linear from 7 years to adults' age. The interference of dual-task on gait was larger for the video than for the auditory task and decreased with age. We concluded that walking requires a significant amount of attentional resources in children and that children rely more than adults on visual processes for walking.
