Pellecchia GL; University of Hartford, West Hartford, CT. pellecchi@hartford.edu.

PURPOSE: Dual-tasking, engaging in two activities at the same time, is routine in daily living. Different theoretical perspectives offer conflicting predictions about the type of practice that best improves dual-task performance. The purpose of this study was to examine the impact of single-task and dual-task training on performance of concurrent cognitive and bimanual coordination tasks. SUBJECTS: Twenty-one adults, 10 men and 11 women, 18 – 24 years of age, participated after providing informed consent. METHODS AND MATERIALS: Participants were randomly assigned to single-task training (STT), dual-task training (DTT), or no training (NT) groups. The cognitive task was counting backward by 7s starting from a random 3-digit number. The bimanual coordination task required seated participants to swing hand-held pendulums back and forth in an inphase pattern, i.e. both pendulums moving in the same direction at the same time. Skill Technologies 6DR/Ultratrak Pro tracked motion of the hand-held pendulums. Kinematic data was used to calculate absolute phase shift (APS), a measure of deviation from the required coordination pattern. During pre-testing, APS was measured as participants performed the coordination task singly and concurrently with the cognitive task. Individuals assigned to STT and DTT groups participated in 3 practice sessions on 3 different days. For STT, cognitive and coordination tasks were practiced separately. For DTT, the two tasks were practiced concurrently. Post-testing measured APS under single and dual-task conditions. ANALYSES: Repeated measures analysis of variance and planned comparisons were used to compare groups on APS under single and dual-task conditions pre- and post-training. RESULTS: Pre-training, APS was greater under dual-task than under single-task conditions (p < .05) with no difference between the three groups. Post-training, APS remained greater under dual-task conditions for the NT and STT groups (p < .05), but not the DTT group (p > .05). CONCLUSIONS: Dual-task interference, the decrement in performance that occurs when two tasks are performed concurrently, was eliminated with DTT but not with STT or NT. These findings suggest that interventions aimed at improving dual-task performance should incorporate dual-task practice. FUNDING SOURCE: The Donaghue Medical Research Foundation provided support for this research.

Reprint Information
Requests for reprints should be directed to the corresponding author of the article. Students and other academic customers may receive permission to reprint copyrighted material from Physical Therapy by contacting the Copyright Clearance Center Inc, 222 Rosewood Dr, Danvers, MA 01923. Similar inquiries by all others should be made to the APTA Editorial Office, Attn: Physical Therapy.