Effects of Divided Attention on Task Accuracies 1
Effects of Divided Attention on Task Accuracies
Gülser Özel
Rutgers University
Course Number: Cognition Lab
Elisabeth Black
04/11/2024
, Effects of Divided Attention on Task Accuracies 2
Results
The experiment consisted of two runs conducted a month apart, each involving three
tasks: numeral, gradient, and a combined task, serving as independent variables. Four conditions
emerged from these tasks: Numeral (N), Gradient (G), Both-Numeral (BN), and Both-Gradient
(BG), with dependent variables being reaction time and accuracy. The mean accuracies for N, G,
BN, and BG across both runs were 96.67%, 21.67%, 91.67%, and 11.67%, respectively.
Figure 1 displays the accuracy percentages for each of the conditions—Numeral only
(N), Gradient only (G), Both-Numeral (BN), and Both-Gradient (BG)—across two experimental
sessions. The data indicate that accuracy was consistently highest in the N condition in both
sessions, followed by BN, G, and BG respectively. The accuracy for the N condition
outperformed BN by less than 4% in the first session, whereas G beat BG by about 15%. The
performance difference between G and BG dropped to 10% in the second session, while the gap
between N and BN went up to 6%.
The number of right answers in each of four distinct situations for the Both conditions
throughout the course of two experimental runs is shown in Figure 2. The possible outcomes are
as follows: 1) every response, including gradient and numeric, is accurate; 2) every response, but
the gradient is erroneous; 3) every response, but the numeric is incorrect; and 4) all responses are
incorrect. There were four times in the second test where the gradient and numerical responses
were both right, compared to none in the first run. For both runs, accurate numerical replies were
more common than wrong gradient responses. The least frequent outcome varied: in the first run,
there were no instances where both responses were correct, and in the second run, the fewest
Effects of Divided Attention on Task Accuracies
Gülser Özel
Rutgers University
Course Number: Cognition Lab
Elisabeth Black
04/11/2024
, Effects of Divided Attention on Task Accuracies 2
Results
The experiment consisted of two runs conducted a month apart, each involving three
tasks: numeral, gradient, and a combined task, serving as independent variables. Four conditions
emerged from these tasks: Numeral (N), Gradient (G), Both-Numeral (BN), and Both-Gradient
(BG), with dependent variables being reaction time and accuracy. The mean accuracies for N, G,
BN, and BG across both runs were 96.67%, 21.67%, 91.67%, and 11.67%, respectively.
Figure 1 displays the accuracy percentages for each of the conditions—Numeral only
(N), Gradient only (G), Both-Numeral (BN), and Both-Gradient (BG)—across two experimental
sessions. The data indicate that accuracy was consistently highest in the N condition in both
sessions, followed by BN, G, and BG respectively. The accuracy for the N condition
outperformed BN by less than 4% in the first session, whereas G beat BG by about 15%. The
performance difference between G and BG dropped to 10% in the second session, while the gap
between N and BN went up to 6%.
The number of right answers in each of four distinct situations for the Both conditions
throughout the course of two experimental runs is shown in Figure 2. The possible outcomes are
as follows: 1) every response, including gradient and numeric, is accurate; 2) every response, but
the gradient is erroneous; 3) every response, but the numeric is incorrect; and 4) all responses are
incorrect. There were four times in the second test where the gradient and numerical responses
were both right, compared to none in the first run. For both runs, accurate numerical replies were
more common than wrong gradient responses. The least frequent outcome varied: in the first run,
there were no instances where both responses were correct, and in the second run, the fewest
