What does the concept of "divided attention" refer to?

The concept of "divided attention" refers to the ability to allocate cognitive resources to multiple tasks or stimuli simultaneously. This means that when individuals engage in multitasking, they are splitting their attention between different sources of input. For instance, when someone is trying to listen to music while studying or talking on the phone while cooking, they are practicing divided attention. Research in cognitive psychology has shown that when attention is divided, performance on tasks may diminish, as each task competes for limited cognitive resources.

In contrast, focusing on a single task represents concentrated attention, where cognitive resources are fully directed towards one activity. Enhancing memory capacity pertains to strategies that make retention of information easier, while blocking distractions refers to reducing external interference rather than managing multiple tasks simultaneously. Thus, the essence of divided attention lies in managing concurrent activities, distinguishing it from the other listed concepts.