Assessing the attentional demand: improvements to the experimental protocol and possible learning effects

Di Pompeo, Ilaria; Marcaccio, Martina; Migliore, Simone; Curcio, Giuseppe · 2025 · OpenAlex-citations

DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2025.1640286

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Summary

This study addresses the need for improved experimental paradigms to assess attentional control, specifically focusing on selective attention, divided attention, and the cognitive costs associated with switching between these demands. The authors developed the Attentional Demands Task (AD-Task) to overcome limitations of the existing Switching Attentional Demands Task (SwAD-Task), such as limited stimulus complexity, unrealistic temporal dynamics, and low ecological validity. Additionally, the study investigates potential learning effects, determining whether repeated practice significantly alters performance, which is crucial for the task's applicability in longitudinal research. The research involved two phases. In Phase 1, 41 healthy young adults completed the AD-Task alongside established paradigms: an Oddball Task for selective attention and a Dual-Task for divided attention. The AD-Task featured increased stimulus complexity (geometric shapes and colors) and optimized timing, consisting of 16 blocks (8 selective, 8 divided) with 60 trials each, plus a training phase. Participants also completed sleep and psychophysiological assessments, including the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index and Global Vigor-Affect Scale, to control for confounding variables. In Phase 2, 22 participants underwent an intensive training protocol to evaluate practice effects. Results demonstrated strong convergent validity, with significant correlations in reaction times and accuracy between the AD-Task and established paradigms. As expected, divided attention yielded slower response times and reduced accuracy compared to selective attention, reflecting higher cognitive load. Analysis of switching costs revealed asymmetries, with selective attention showing greater vulnerability to switching effects. Regarding learning effects, no significant differences emerged between trained and untrained groups in overall performance, except for a modest improvement in target discrimination accuracy under switching conditions in the trained group. The findings validate the AD-Task as a sensitive, reliable, and repeatable measure of attentional control and flexibility. By addressing previous limitations related to sensory modality interference and task complexity, the AD-Task offers enhanced ecological validity. The minimal impact of practice on overall performance suggests the task is robust against learning effects, making it suitable for repeated measurements in clinical and experimental settings. This advancement provides researchers with a more comprehensive tool for assessing how individuals manage varying attentional demands in dynamic contexts.

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Topics

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• task switching
• attention selective divided