Baseline and dual-task comparison

Divided Attention Test Online

Establish a baseline for two visual response tasks, then repeat both together with matched event timing and separate results.

Complete each visual task alone before the matched dual-task block.

Task A · central shape · Block progress: 1/6

Classify the central shape: C = circle; S = square.

Accuracy change = dual-task accuracy − baseline accuracy; RT cost = dual-task median correct RT − baseline median correct RT. Read the signed values together with both speed and accuracy.

Session comparison

Task A

Baseline Accuracy

0%

Dual task Accuracy

0%

Baseline Median RT

Dual task Median RT

Accuracy change

Not enough trials

RT dual-task cost

Not enough trials

Misses

0

False alarms

0

Task B

Baseline Accuracy

0%

Dual task Accuracy

0%

Baseline Median RT

Dual task Median RT

Accuracy change

Not enough trials

RT dual-task cost

Not enough trials

Misses

0

False alarms

0

No validity flags were detected

Recent comparable sessions

No divided-attention sessions are stored in this browser yet.

This session first presents central shape decisions and peripheral target monitoring as separate baseline blocks. A final block combines them while preserving the event interval and response deadline. Baseline order is counterbalanced and saved with the result.

The browser stores completed summaries locally and uploads no responses. Signed accuracy changes and response-time costs describe this session only. They are not a multitasking score and do not predict driving, workplace, classroom, or medical performance.

Why the two baselines come first

A dual-task result has little meaning without knowing how each component looked on its own. The baseline blocks estimate accuracy and response timing for the same person, device, keys, and session before both response streams are combined.

The page alternates whether task A or task B comes first based on the session seed. That counterbalancing does not remove every order or practice effect, but it avoids forcing all users through one fixed baseline order. The saved settings identify the actual order.

What the two tasks require

Task A is a central choice: press C for a circle or S for a square. Task B is peripheral monitoring: respond to a solid diamond in one corner and withhold the response for an outlined circle. The final block presents both at the same event rhythm.

The default is visual plus visual so it works without audio permission, headphones, or hearing assumptions. The page does not request microphone access, autoplay sound, or treat an audio task as the only route through the session.

How dual-task change is calculated

For each task, accuracy change equals dual-task accuracy minus baseline accuracy. RT dual-task cost equals dual-task median correct RT minus baseline median correct RT. Misses and false alarms are shown separately.

A result is calculated only when the baseline and dual condition each contain at least three observations. No combined multitasking score is produced. Keeping A and B separate shows whether the two response streams changed in different ways.

Why speed and accuracy may trade off

When two decisions compete for response time, a person can slow one response, miss an event, or make a faster incorrect choice. A positive RT cost with steady accuracy describes a different pattern from unchanged RT with more misses.

Median RT includes correct responses only, while accuracy includes all expected decisions. This separation prevents an error-heavy fast block from looking better merely because incorrect responses were quick.

Why this result does not transfer directly to real-world judgments

Driving, work, and health decisions involve different sensory inputs, training, consequences, and time scales. A short central-shape and corner-target task cannot simulate those environments or certify safe performance.

Browser scheduling, keyboard or touch latency, screen size, interruptions, fatigue, and baseline order all affect this session. Page hiding pauses the task and adds a validity flag; compare personal sessions only with the same mode and event interval.

How this differs from Multiple Object Tracking

Multiple Object Tracking asks you to maintain the identities of several moving targets in one continuous display. This page instead combines two response rules: a central classification and intermittent peripheral target detection.

Both can feel busy, but their measurements are not interchangeable. Tracking selection accuracy does not provide a baseline-versus-dual change, and this task does not estimate how many moving objects can be followed.

Research source used for the task explanation

Pashler, H. (1994). “Dual-task interference in simple tasks: Data and theory.” Psychological Bulletin, 116(2), 220–244. https://doi.org/10.1037/0033-2909.116.2.220

FAQ

These questions stay tied to the visible content on this page.

The reported change uses your same-session single-task performance as the reference. Skipping it would leave no matched basis for the dual-task comparison.

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