The development of multitasking in children aged 7-11

• Main Author: Van Adel, James Michael
• Other Authors: Kerns, Kimberly
• Language: English; en
• Published: 2008
• Subjects: Multitasking; Development; Executive Function; Prospective Memory; UVic Subject Index::Humanities and Social Sciences::Psychology::Developmental psychology
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/1828/907

The purpose of this study was to examine the development of the ability to multitask in children along with other executive control processes that likely underlie goal-directed behavior in novel situations. 35 children, ages 7-11, completed an experimental multitasking paradigm, the Children’s Multiple Activities Game (CMAG), and an existing measure, the Six Parts Test (SPT) as well as two working memory and inhibition tasks and a prospective memory task. Results indicated that multitasking ability improves across this age range and is related to a number of executive abilities. Performance on the CMAG was related to a number of executive abilities, while the SPT was unrelated to these measures. To our knowledge, this is the first study to investigate the development of this ability in children. Findings will be discussed in terms of how this ability develops in relation to cognitive processes that are crucial and account for its variation.