Age differences and divided attention: is there a general deficit?

It was the goal of this study to determine whether there were age differences specifically associated with the ability to simultaneously execute two tasks, and whether cognitive costs correlated across different situations. Eighty-one young and 86 older adults underwent nine tasks, administered both in single and in dual conditions. Results showed large age differences in raw performances in all conditions. However, a larger cognitive cost in the older adults sample, as assessed by an Age x Condition interaction, was observed only for four out of the nine tasks. Furthermore, age effects were greatly diminished once performance in the single tasks was controlled for. Correlations between the dual tasks, or between the cognitive cost scores, were very low once age was partialled out. Results do not support the notion of general coordination costs and speak against a generalized increase in divided attention costs with advancing age.