Dual tasks
visual or auditory cues
The two dual tasks that we designed in this study were: (1) Serial Seven Test (SST) and Box and Block Test (BBT; SST and BBT performed concurrently for 60 s) and (2) frequency discrimination (FD) and BBT (FD and BBT performed currently for 60 s).The SST is intended to evaluate working memory [SST: a participant is asked to repeatedly count backward by seven which begins with 300 (i.e., subtract 7 from 300), and to report their answer to each subtraction. Correct and incorrect responses to SST are recorded, and the corrected number which is the difference between correct and incorrect responses is calculated.BBT: a participant is seated at a table and presented with a rectangular box divided into two square compartments and there are 150 colored wooden blocks in one compartment. A participant is instructed to move a block, one at a time, from one compartment to the other as many as they can in 60 s [FD: a participant is required to discriminate between either high (1000 Hz) or low (500 Hz) pitch presented by speakers and to report their answer. There was a total of 18 trials conducted in 60 s. Specifically, there were nine trials involving high-pitch sounds and nine trials involving low-pitch sounds. The presentation of both high- and low-pitch sounds was randomized, and the intervals between the sounds ranged randomly from 1 to 4 s. Correct and incorrect responses to FD are recorded, and the corrected number which is the difference between correct and incorrect responses is calculated.We focused on dual task performance and each dual task included cognitive and physical performance. We reported both cognitive and physical performance for each dual task. SST performance when tasked with BBT indicated the cognitive performance, the corrected number of SST, in the dual task of SST and BBT. BBT performance when tasked with SST indicated the physical performance, the number of blocks, in the dual task of SST and BBT. FD performance when tasked with BBT indicated the cognitive performance, the corrected number of FD, in the dual task of FD and BBT. BBT performance when tasked with FD indicated the physical performance, the number of blocks, in the dual task of FD and BBT.Before engaging in dual tasks, participants had the opportunity to practice SST, FD, and BBT under single task conditions. Research assistants provided instructions on how to perform the dual tasks, and participants were given two practice sessions to ensure a comprehensive understanding of how to successfully perform the dual tasks before undergoing evaluation.Near and far transfer refers to the extent to which the benefits of training on a specific task can be applied to other tasks. Near transfer occurs when skills gained from a training task can be readily applied to tasks with similar processes or demands. It typically occurs when the training and the transfer tasks are closely related. On the other hand, far transfer involves the generalization of learning to tasks with dissimilar processes and demands. In this case, the acquired skills are applied to domains that may not share obvious similarities with the trained task [The cognitive components of SCET included attention and calculation tasks. The attention activities involved various tasks, such as responding to visual or auditory cues and instructions. FD required participants to determine high- or low-pitch sounds, which showed some similarity to responding to auditory cues, making it a relatively near transfer task. Similarly, the calculation activities involved answering arithmetic questions and determining the total amounts. SST required participants to perform serial subtraction by 7, mental arithmetic, making it another relatively near transfer task. Regarding the physical components, participants engaged in muscle-strengthening exercises by grasping bottles filled with water as weights or using elastic bands. While grasping was incorporated into both BBT and SCET, the patterns of grasping blocks and bottles/elastic bands were not quite similar. As a result, BBT was considered a relatively far transfer task.