Multiple-Task Performance: A Comparison of Younger and Older Adults

Abstract

There is considerable disagreement among researchers regarding the psychological mechanisms underlying age-related acquisition and transfer of attentional control in multiple-task environments and effective training strategies. We outline a study conducted to examine the effects of extended practice on the performance of multiple tasks. In the study, five different training strategies (i.e., whole task, dual task, single task, embedded dual task, and embedded single task) were evaluated. The embedded dual- and single-task strategies required emphasis of a dual or single task within whole-task performance, respectively. The results revealed that both younger and older adults improved their multiple-task performance of a wide-ranging, complex set of tasks; however, younger adults consistently outperformed older adults. Except for single-task training, training strategy had little differential effect on younger adults' multiple-task performance. On the contrary, among older adults the most effective training strategies were the whole- and dual-task strategies, which required concurrent-task performance, self-assignment of task priorities, task coordination, and performance strategy development for two or more tasks. Single-task training, overall, was the least effective among the five training strategies. The theoretical and practical implications for these findings are disussed.