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Aging of attention: does the ability to divide decline?
T A Salthouse1, N M Fristoe, T T Lineweaver
1Salthouse, School of Psychology, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta 30332-0170.
Memory & Cognition
|January 1, 1995
Summary
Adult age does not significantly impact the ability to divide attention between two tasks. This study found minimal age-related differences in dual-task performance compared to single-task performance.
Area of Science:
- Cognitive Psychology
- Neuroscience
- Human Development
Background:
- Conflicting research exists on age-related changes in divided attention.
- Methodological variations in studies may explain inconsistent findings.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate age-related influences on divided attention.
- To address methodological inconsistencies in previous research.
Main Methods:
- Two experiments were conducted using a letter-memory task with a concurrent speeded decision task.
- Procedures were designed to control for task emphasis and single-task performance.
Main Results:
- Few age-related influences were observed on dual-task performance.
- Age effects on dual-task performance were minimal compared to single-task performance.
Conclusions:
- Adult age has limited impact on the ability to divide attention.
- Methodological rigor can clarify age-related cognitive performance findings.