No Age of Inattention: Small and Domain-Differentiated Cross-Temporal Changes in Tests of Selective Attention and Attentional Control in Austrian Adults (2000-2025)

Abstract

Cross-temporal changes in cognitive abilities in the vein of the Flynn effect evidently are differentiated across cognitive domains. However, little is known about cross-temporal changes in selective attention and attentional control. This knowledge gap is particularly relevant in light of hypotheses about changes in attention-related abilities in the digital age. In a norm-comparison study, we investigated whether the performance of Austrian adults in three well-established tests of selective attention and attentional control (interference management and sustained attention) changed between 2000 and 2025. We compared three population-representative archival samples, recruited between 2000 and 2004 for standardization purposes ( Ns = 220, 267, and 325), with equally sized and demographically matched samples purposefully recruited in 2025. Change trajectories, albeit generally small in strength, were directionally differentiated across these three attention-related domains, yielding improvements in selective attention ( d = 0.12), stagnation in interference management (absolute ds < 0.06), and potential declines in sustained attention ( d = -0.27). Relatedly, most accuracy indicators across these three tests showed evidence for small improvements ( d range = -0.11 to 0.27). This set of findings indicates small, but domain-differentiated, changes in selective attention and attentional control in Austrian adults for the period 2000 to 2025. Furthermore, the results further support domain differentiation of cross-temporal changes in cognitive abilities and contradict the notion of large changes in attention-related abilities in the digital age.