People must possess the cognitive flexibility required for functional competence by being able to switch focus between tasks that require different cognitive requirements, such as typing an email while taking phone calls or cooking while listening to radio programs.
These alternating attention tasks target multiple skills, including sustained and selective attention, visual scanning, and executive functioning. Please click on any of the links for accessing handouts for these activities.
Finding the Same Symbols
Alternating attention refers to the ability to quickly switch between tasks that require different cognitive skills. For instance, if someone is writing an email when their phone rings and they must divert their focus toward answering it before returning back to their original task without losing momentum. Alternating attention is also crucial when following written instructions; those with difficulty switching tasks could find themselves getting stuck on certain steps, failing to complete them fully before moving backwards again to start from the beginning of an activity.
There are various tests designed to measure alternating attention, such as the Trail Making Test Part B (TMT-B), letter-number sequencing subtest of WAIS-IV and the Symbol Digit Modalities Test (SDMT). These assessments typically measure visuospatial and working memory skills simultaneously.
Treatment for alternating attention often includes attention process training (APT), which uses a structured progression from focused attention to more divided attention in accordance with Sohlberg and Mateer’s work.
Assist your client with practicing both alternating and selective attention by having them read from a menu, followed by answering questions about it. This is an easy and efficient way to hone both their alternating and selective focus simultaneously.
Another effective alternating attention task involves having students listen to and repeat back a sequence of numbers and letters spoken backwards – this test measures both their alternating and selective attention as well as auditory processing speed.
Finally, to improve alternating and selective attention you can have your client play a game which requires them to look for specific symbols on a grid while ignoring distracting ones that have been randomly scattered around it. This game is easy to setup, scores well and can even be completed independently by patients themselves – you can download this activity from Therapy Insights’ Free Printable Resources Library which is open to all subscribers.
Find Alternating Symbols
Alternating attention refers to the ability to shift attention between activities with distinct cognitive demands. This allows multitaskers, for instance, to listen in on conversations while checking email for any important messages.
One way to strengthen this attention skill is through visual scanning exercises. Patients must search a grid of symbols until they locate one matching in each quadrant, then select it. This activity can target visual scanning, attention to detail, visuospatial reasoning and executive function (planning how to scan it and self-monitoring that all symbols have been chosen).
Another excellent way to foster alternating attention is through simultaneous presentation of multiple stimuli. This can be accomplished by combining tasks from different categories – visual search with verbal task or even by asking questions during the task – or asking more challenging questions during it. These strategies may increase difficulty by increasing complexity of stimuli presented as well as cognitive demand required to switch between them.
Letter-Number Sequencing Subtest of WAIS-IV is an excellent task to assess both alternating and selective attention. This task presents participants with a sequence of mixed up numbers and letters and requires them to arrange them ascendingly before moving onto alphabetically ordered letters. You can measure its success either by measuring accuracy (cue count needed) or completion time.
Another effective visual alternating attention task is the Find Alternating Symbols Leveled Speech Therapy Exercise. This task follows in the same vein, but gradually increases complexity by adding distractor symbols that look very similar to target symbols and gradually increasing complexity through distractions such as distractor symbols that look very similar. This task targets various skills including scanning, attention to detail and executive functioning.
Find Alternating Objects
Alternating attention refers to the ability to rapidly switch focus from two tasks with different cognitive requirements, for instance when multitasking – for instance when listening in on conversations while making dinner. Alternating attention tasks are an excellent way to train this ability by having your patient complete one task and then stop for short period (typing email or answering questions, for instance) before returning back to original task.
This alternating attention task is an effective way to practice multitasking skills and enhance executive functioning abilities. It engages both alternating attention and visual scanning while developing executive functioning abilities to plan how best to complete it and then self-monitor its accuracy upon completion.
Assist your client with taking an inventory of symbols at the top of the page and finding their corresponding ones randomly scattered below them. They can evaluate accuracy by counting how many target symbols they correctly cross out over total number of symbols on page.
As an additional challenge to their alternating attention task, you could ask your client to read aloud while completing it. Accuracy could be measured either by using the number of correct read words over total words read or through more complex methods such as asking them questions about text such as asking how many types of crackers there are or what costs sweets cost.
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Find Alternating Stimuli
Alternating attention is the ability to move back and forth between tasks that have different cognitive demands, which allows us to multi-task such as cooking while talking on the phone or typing an email while listening to music. People with alternating attention deficits have difficulty shifting between stimuli or activities like watching television while driving and walking their dog.
There are various alternating attention tasks available to train this skill. Most involve auditory or visual stimulation and require patients to identify different stimuli from those targeted as targets; generally these more difficult cancellation tasks require participants to both find target symbols while simultaneously ignoring distractor stimuli.
One common alternating attention task includes using a keyboard with two separate melodies: melodic motive and drum track. Participants must press keys when they hear either melody, and when each downbeat hits (ie: when drum track ends), shift their attention over to percussion task component (drum track). When drum track finishes again, participants return their focus back onto melodic task component; training such as this can effectively strengthen alternating attention, selective attention and working memory skills by rapidly switching back and forth between both tasks.
Alternating Attention Tasks speech therapy involve participants moving their eyes around a picture to locate all of the target symbols while ignoring distractor stimuli. This activity can help improve participants’ alternating attention skills and visual scanning strategies.
Alternating attention tasks typically use colored backgrounds that help develop visual scanning and discrimination skills in individuals, however there are also non-colored alternating attention tasks available to clinicians that may assist patients experiencing difficulty due to aphasia in processing visual stimuli. A simple task that does not require reading could involve asking them to locate all green items within a picture as one form of an alternating attention task.
