The Effects of Dual Processing on Gait Pattern: An Analysis of Texting and Walking

摘要

Dual-tasking is a common practice that humans use in today’s society to save time and increase task efficiency. Dual-tasking requires the ability of an individual to process two or more pieces of information at once. One prime example of human dual-tasking performed in today’s society is texting while walking. Although texting while walking is considered to be a common practice for younger and older generations, performing this type of dual-tasking may lead to greater distraction, posing potential risks of fall or injury to oneself or others due to alterations in normal gait patterning. Based on these concerns, the purpose of this study was to examine the effect of texting while walking on gait pattern in healthy young adults. The dependent variables measured in this study were mean claw back, mean breaking and propulsive forces, and normalized velocity. The independent variables were type of force and walking condition. Twenty-two participants were recruited for this study. Participants walked across a force platform during three conditions: undistracted walking, walking while receiving a text, and walking while sending a text. Inferential statistics were conducted using one way ANOVAs and a mixed factorial ANOVA to address the purpose of the study. Results indicated no significant difference among the three conditions on average claw back. There was, however, a marginally significant interaction effect between type of breaking and propulsive forces across the three conditions when measuring the ground reaction forces, F (2, 84) = 2.58, p= 0.082, There was also a statistically significant difference in normalized velocity between undistracted walking and walking while sending a text, as well as between walking while receiving a text and walking while sending a text, F(2,42)=14.63, p < 0.05, The outcomes of this study may set a foundation for future research examining the risks associated with texting while walking and the effect of dual-tasks on gait pattern.