Divided Attention

Define the term "divided attention" in your own words.

Provide one everyday example of a situation where you might need to use divided attention.

True or False: In an experiment studying divided attention, the number of errors made on a task could be considered a dependent variable.

• True
• False

In an experiment investigating the impact of music on divided attention while completing math problems, what would be the independent variable?

• The number of math problems solved correctly.
• The type of music being played (or no music).
• The amount of time allowed to complete the problems.
• The level of difficulty of the math problems.

A researcher believes that practicing two tasks simultaneously will improve an individual's ability to perform them together. State a testable hypothesis based on this belief.

Outline the first two key steps a researcher would take when designing a simple experiment to investigate the effect of cell phone notifications on a student's ability to read and comprehend a textbook passage.

True or False: If two tasks rely on the same cognitive resources, it is generally easier to perform them simultaneously compared to two tasks that rely on different cognitive resources.

• True
• False

Imagine a study where participants try to track moving objects on a screen while simultaneously listening to and categorizing words. What is one potential confounding variable that the researchers should try to control for?

• The temperature of the room where the experiment is conducted.
• The time of day the experiment takes place.
• The participants' prior experience with tracking moving objects or categorizing words.
• The participants' preferred color of the moving objects.

A researcher wants to investigate if the similarity of two tasks affects divided attention performance. They have participants perform two tasks: Task A (identifying shapes) and Task B. To make the tasks more similar, Task B could be modified to involve:

• Identifying colors instead of shapes.
• Listening to a story while identifying shapes.
• Identifying slightly different types of shapes.
• Completing simple math problems.

Briefly describe one way a researcher could measure the performance of divided attention in an experiment where participants are asked to perform two tasks at the same time.