Investigating dual-task interference in children versus young adults with the overlapping task paradigm.
J Exp Child Psychol
; 197: 104866, 2020 09.
Article
en En
| MEDLINE
| ID: mdl-32531496
ABSTRACT
Previous studies demonstrated that dual-task impairments (i.e., dual-task costs) are higher in children than in young adults. However, these studies did not specify the mechanisms explaining higher dual-task costs and did not assess the specific task processes that particularly impair simultaneous task performance in children. We assessed sources of higher dual-task costs in children (n = 32) as compared with young adults (n = 32) by combining auditory (Task 1) and visual (Task 2) sensorimotor tasks into dual tasks of the psychological refractory period (PRP) type. Both tasks are separated by a varying stimulus onset asynchrony (SOA). In Visual Task 2, we manipulated task difficulty at the perceptual stage (contrast manipulation) and response selection stage (mapping manipulation) in order to identify age-related changes in capacity limitations during dual-task performance. The results showed that the response selection manipulation and SOA yielded additive effects in children and young adults, providing evidence for interference at response selection processes in both age groups. In contrast, the perceptual stage manipulation and SOA resulted in underadditive effects in young adults and additive effects in children. This age-related difference is consistent with the assumption that limitations in central processing are present in both age groups, whereas perceptual interference between tasks seems to be larger in children than in young adults.
Palabras clave
Texto completo:
1
Colección:
01-internacional
Banco de datos:
MEDLINE
Asunto principal:
Desempeño Psicomotor
/
Tiempo de Reacción
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Periodo Refractario Psicológico
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Atención
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Análisis y Desempeño de Tareas
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Filtrado Sensorial
Tipo de estudio:
Prognostic_studies
Límite:
Adult
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Child
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Female
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Humans
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Male
Idioma:
En
Revista:
J Exp Child Psychol
Año:
2020
Tipo del documento:
Article