Divided attention
Concurrent task processing
Also searched as Concurrent task processing.
In depth
A subdomain of complex attention: splitting focus between concurrent tasks. Measured by dual-task cost — how much performance drops when a second task is added. Dual-task ability is used clinically as a falls-risk indicator in older adults.
What drives it
Sharpens attention increases it.
Divided attention is a measured subdomain of the complex-attention cognitive domain. doi 10.3389/fpsyt.2018.00461
What it drives
It increases Sharpens attention.
The DSM-5 Neurocognitive Work Group agreed on six principal domains of cognitive function, each with subdomains. Complex attention comprises sustained, divided and selective attention and processing speed. Taxonomic edge, not a causal mechanism: this is a DSM-5 domain/subdomain relationship, not a pathway acting on another. Sachdev 2014, Nat Rev Neurol 10:634-642 — Classifying neurocognitive disorders: the DSM-5 approach. doi 10.1038/nrneurol.2014.181
It increases Balance & falls.
The dual-task paradigm helps determine the capacity of individuals to divide their attention between two tasks and the effect of concurrent tasks on motor performance; it can provide predictive information…. PMC10137896
Blends that modulate it
Each blend page names this pathway and carries the study behind its claim.
See it on the map
Open the causal map to follow this pathway upstream and downstream, arrow by arrow, each with its study.