Past Issues

Objective: To examine whether the attentional resource theory is able to suitably explain time perception during the dual tasks. Methods: The sample included 84 students aged from 9 years to 16 years old and who had consented to this study. The students received a single time reproduction task, two versions of time reproduction dual tasks with time intervals of 5, 12 and 17 seconds and the Conners' Continuous Performance Test (CPT). Their parents also reported on the participants using the Chinese Conners' Parent Rating Scale-Revised: Short Form (CPRS-R:S). Results: The time estimation errors were affected by the trial version (F(2, 164) = 33.21, p = .001) and the time interval (F(2,164) = 114.11, p = .001). There was also a significant interaction between time interval and the task version (F(4,328) = 14.40, p = .001). On removing age and gender effects, the errors in time estimation for the difficult version of the time reproduction dual task was significantly correlated to commission errors within the CPT (partial correlation, = 0.24, p = 0.048) and the inattention subscale of the CPRSR: S (partial correlation, = 0.33, p = 0.006). Conclusion: Our findings suggest that the attentional resource theory can be used to explain performance when carrying out a time reproduction dual task. Our findings need to be confirmed in future studies involving children with a clinical diagnosis of attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder. (Full text in Chinese)