Divided Attention

As we navigate the world, we have to pay attention to what matters for our own safety, health, interest, and joy, while still suppressing all of the unimportant details around us. While you want to see the crack in the sidewalk that might trip you, you don’t want to waste your brain’s resources noticing every single crack in the sidewalk. Dismissing what doesn’t matter is just as important as noticing what does.

Divided Attention is one of the exercises from BrainHQ’s Attention category. Divided Attention challenges your brain to focus in on and react to particular details—matching colors, shapes, and/or fill interiors—while at the same time dismissing competing information within a time limit.

Here are the shapes, fill patterns, and colors shown throughout Divided Attention:

Here’s how the exercise works:

1. At the START screen, a criteria is given (“same color”, “different shape”, etc) and two example images that meet the criteria are shown. Select START to begin.
   

2. Two images are shown side by side. If the images match the criteria, select “Yes” before time runs out; if the images don’t match the criteria, select “No” before time runs out.
   

Tip: If you’re training from a computer, you can use the left and right arrow keys on your keyboard to give your answers.

Divided Attention is what’s known as a Continuous Performance Task (CPT). This means that speed and accuracy are both important when you are selecting your answers. Because of this, there are two ways to be marked wrong: 

• Selecting the incorrect answer
• Not answering within the time limit

If an incorrect answer is given you’ll hear a “bonk” sound, and the level may display future images on screen for longer. This would make it easier for you to take in all of the information. If the correct answer is given you’ll hear a “boop” sound and the level may decrease the amount of time the images are on screen for, driving your brain to process information more quickly. In both cases, the level then continues, repeating Step 2 above.

You can review the exercise video tutorial here:

Divided Attention from BrainHQ from Posit Science on Vimeo.

As you progress through Divided Attention, it becomes more challenging in these ways:

• Different categories: first, you might be asked to watch for matching colors, then matching shapes, then matching fill interiors (e.g., solid, line, blank).
• Multiple categories: first, you might be asked to watch for matching colors, but eventually you might be asked for matching color and shape or matching color but different shape.