The Relationship between Single Task, Dual Task Performance and Impulsiveness Personality Traits of Young Adults in the Community.

Myoung-Ok Park

doi:10.3390/healthcare8040470

Abstract

(1) Background: The aim of this study was to investigate the association between single, dual task performance and impulsiveness personality traits of young adults in the community. (2) Methods: As a cross-sectional study, the Korean version of the Barratt Impulsiveness Scale-11-Revised test, which is an impulsiveness indicator test tool, was conducted on a total of 62 healthy young adults in the community. In order to assess the task performance ability, single task, motor dual task, and cognitive-motor dual task of Timed up and go (TUG) test were conducted. (3) Results: In order to identify the mean difference of the three types of TUG task performance according to the total score of impulsiveness test of all subjects, one-way ANOVA analysis was performed. As a result, there was no statistically significant difference by each task type. Upon investigating the correlation between the three subtypes (cognitive impulsiveness, motor impulsiveness, non-planned impulsiveness) of impulsiveness and total score and TUG task performance, cognitive impulsiveness and TUG-cognitive task performance showed statistically significant correlation. (4) Conclusions: There was an association with the degree of cognitive impulsiveness when performing motor task and cognitive task simultaneously.

Highlights

The daily tasks performed by humans are not performed as a single task, but have the characteristics of simultaneously applying motor, cognitive and sensory functions in various environments [1].For example, we can have a conversation while drinking tea, talk while walking, and use mobile phone while driving
High performance ability for dual task can be seen as excellent quality of task performance with flexible control of attention maintenance and attention allocation in cognitive information processing process [5]
In order to identity the mean difference in the three types of Timed up and go (TUG) task performance and impulsiveness, one way ANOVA was performed

Summary

Introduction

The daily tasks performed by humans are not performed as a single task, but have the characteristics of simultaneously applying motor, cognitive and sensory functions in various environments [1].For example, we can have a conversation while drinking tea, talk while walking, and use mobile phone while driving. The ability to process two tasks simultaneously requires proper maintenance of attention capacity and attention allocation for maintaining concentration [4]. High performance ability for dual task can be seen as excellent quality of task performance with flexible control of attention maintenance and attention allocation in cognitive information processing process [5]. Based on such evidence, there have been various reports of effects of concentration change and function enhancement in dual task training for patients with stroke and nervous system injury, and children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder [6,7,8]. In patients with neurological problems, Healthcare 2020, 8, 470; doi:10.3390/healthcare8040470 www.mdpi.com/journal/healthcare

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