Divided attention costs for speeded and non-speeded movements to near and far targets

Research has shown that reaction times to a primary task are slowed when paired with speeded and non-speeded second tasks. The non-speeded effect has been attributed to attentional demands. However, an additional explanation for the non-speeded effect may be due to programming demands. The purpose of the present experiments was to examine both attentional and programming demands as explanations for the non-speeded effect. The first experiment examined the influence of speeded and non-speeded second tasks on the reaction times for a primary task. The second experiment examined the influence of the accuracy demands of a second task on the reaction times for a primary task. The results suggest that the non-speeded effect may be attributed to both programming and attentional demands.