ABSTRACT
The chapter deals with several aspects of the individual differences in attention. It considers how differences are created through training and experience and addresses the differences between people unrelated to practice and, more attributable to innate individual differences, analogous to verbal and spatial ability differences. The chapter examines one very important form of individual difference contributing to attentional performance: biological age, an issue of increasing importance as aging population strives to remain active and independent on the road and in their homes. Attention switching has received a fair amount of research as an ability component. An alternative approach to measuring the attention components that often underlie dual-task performance is to directly assess individual differences in dual-task decrements and the extent to which these are stable across people. The consequences of attentional losses also can be mitigated through appropriate task design and operator training.
