A type of computer-based task that demands active cognitive performance over an extended period. Good performance in such a task requires extended periods of sustained attention, and extended activation of brain areas involved in sustained attention. Children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder show deficits on continuous performance tasks, which are taken to imply deficits in the brain regions controlling sustained attention. A frequently used instrument for the assessment of continuous attention in such children is Connors’ Continuous Performance test (CPT II) that purports to be able to distinguish response patterns such as inattentiveness and impulsivity. Continuous attention involves the selective awareness of stimuli that are always presented or for most of the time, and in this respect is not the same as vigilance that requires reactions to stimuli presented randomly for a few times over a longer period of time.
See Attention, Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), Impulsiveness, Impulsivity, Sustained attention