Selective and Divided Attention in Typically Developing Children and Young Adults: A Comparative Study

Abstract

The aim of study was to assess selective and divided attention in children and young adults. 100 children between 8–12 years of age constituted group 1, while group 2 comprised of younger adults between 18–25 years of age. Letter monitoring task was used to tap selective and divided attention. For assessing selective attention, one target letter was used, and two target phonemes were used in the assessment of divided attention. The performance on these tasks was determined through mean reaction time and accuracy scores. Statistically significant difference between the two groups (obtained on independent sample T test) was seen only for the task of divided attention. Within group comparison carried out by independent sample T test suggested significant difference for children (group 1) on task 2 (divided attention) suggesting that the development of divided attention would take place through the years of childhood