Abstract
This study examined the effect of divided attention on language production. Subjects recalled information learned and performed mental arithmetic tasks simultaneously. Compared with a no-arithmetic control condition, speech produced in the divided-attention condition showed less information recalled, more frequent prolonged pauses, and extensive deterioration in clausal and sentential structures. Attention deficit seems to disrupt message construction, the smooth flow of speech output, and sentence construction processes in speech.
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An earlier version of this paper was presented at the American Psychological Society Meeting at Washington, DC, in June 1991. We thank James Shanteau, Charles Thompson, and Loren Alexander for their helpful comments.
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Jou, J., Harris, R.J. The effect of divided attention on speech production. Bull. Psychon. Soc. 30, 301–304 (1992). https://doi.org/10.3758/BF03330471
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.3758/BF03330471