Training for attentional control in dual task settings: A comparison of young and old adults.

Kramer, Arthur F.; Larish, John F.; Strayer, David L. · 1995 · Journal of Experimental Psychology Applied

DOI: 10.1037/1076-898x.1.1.50

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Summary

This study investigates whether specific training strategies can enhance dual-task performance and narrow the age-related gap in attentional control between young and older adults. Motivated by the robust finding that older adults suffer greater performance decrements when dividing attention, the authors sought to determine if training could mitigate these deficits and whether such improvements would transfer to novel tasks. The research challenges theories of general slowing and complexity, proposing instead that age-related differences stem from deficits in task coordination and attentional flexibility. The experimental design compared two training strategies: fixed-priority (FP), where participants treated tasks as equally important, and variable-priority (VP), a hybrid approach where participants shifted emphasis between tasks across trial blocks. Participants, comprising 29 young adults (mean age 20.8) and 30 older adults (mean age 67.8), were trained on a dual-task paradigm involving a monitoring task (tracking invisible gauge cursors) and an alphabet-arithmetic task. Following training, participants performed transfer tasks: a scheduling task and a paired-associates running memory task. This design allowed the researchers to assess not only the acquisition of the trained skills but also the development of automatic processing and the generalizability of task-coordination strategies. The results demonstrated that participants in the variable-priority condition learned the monitoring and alphabet-arithmetic tasks more rapidly and achieved a higher level of mastery than those in the fixed-priority condition. Crucially, VP-trained participants showed evidence of developing automatic processing in the arithmetic component. Furthermore, the VP group exhibited a faster rate of learning and superior mastery on the transfer tasks compared to the FP group. These findings held for both young and older adults, indicating that the benefits of the VP strategy were not limited to younger participants. The data suggest that VP training facilitates the development of flexible attentional control strategies that are partially generalizable to new dual-task contexts. The significance of these findings lies in their theoretical and practical implications. Theoretically, the results support the view that dual-task performance involves specific coordination mechanisms distinct from simple task complexity or general slowing, as these mechanisms can be selectively trained and improved. Practically, the study suggests that training strategies emphasizing variable priority can effectively enhance multitasking skills in older adults. This has potential applications for real-world activities requiring divided attention, such as driving, where improved attentional control could reduce accident rates among the elderly. The study establishes that age-related dual-task deficits are not immutable and can be reduced through targeted training that promotes attentional flexibility.

Key finding

Participants trained with a variable-priority strategy learned dual tasks more quickly and achieved higher mastery levels on both trained and transfer tasks than those trained with a fixed-priority strategy.

Methodology

lab_experiment

Sample size: 59

Provenance

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Summary generated by qwen3.6-27b-prismaquant on 2026-06-10; verification: verified.

Topics

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• dual task multitasking