Research compiled by New Frontiers | Last updated: September 2026
In a culture increasingly shaped by short-form media and algorithms, the average human attention span seems to have plummeted. Headlines often cite an average attention span of 8 or 12 seconds, yet these statistics have recently been debunked in favor of the newer, more credible 47-second baseline. 1 2 Nonetheless, even this new number requires context; the definition of attention span in academic literature is malleable, allowing for entirely different measurement methodologies.
The following article, put together by researchers at New Frontiers, lays out key statistics on the average human attention span and how studies measure it. Concerns about decreasing attention spans reflect broader social anxieties about mental health trends, which you can read more about in the article Mental Health Trends 2026: Data and Statistics.
The Different Types Of Attention Span
Attention span is defined as the focus of awareness towards a task or phenomenon, while excluding other possible objects or trains of thought.3 It is often split into specific subcategories, linked to working memory and executive functioning. One widely used clinical model, created by neuropsychologists Sohlberg and Mateer, splits attention into five different categories:
Attention Types: Sohlberg and Mateer
| Attention Type | Description |
|---|---|
| Focused | Orienting oneself toward a specific visual, auditory, or tactile stimulus. The most fundamental level of attentional processing. |
| Sustained | Maintaining consistent responses during continuous and repetitive activity (vigilance and concentration). |
| Selective | Maintaining behavioral or cognitive focus in the presence of distracting or competing stimuli. |
| Alternating | Shifting focus between tasks with different cognitive demands. |
| Divided | Multitasking, or responding simultaneously to multiple tasks or task demands. |
Sources: Table 11
The chart developed by Sohlberg and Mateer, though efficient, is not all-encompassing. Below are additional attention categories to consider.
Attention Types: Miscellaneous
| Attention Type | Description |
|---|---|
| Spatial | Prioritizing regions in space, particular features (color, motion), or objects. |
| Vigilant | The ability to sustain focus on a stimulus or task that may not inherently engage interest, while resisting distraction by other stimuli or thoughts. |
| Social | The ability to focus within social contexts, on stimuli such as faces, gaze direction, and body posture. |
Sources: Table 22
Why Is The Measure of Attention Span So Scattered?
The studies cited in this article each capture very different kinds of attention-centered behavior, each using very different definitions and proxies for attention. The statistics from these studies are usually not comparable. Though a proxy can help a researcher estimate attention span, it can never render a complete picture.
Below are some examples of attention-span methodologies explored throughout this article. Each methodology has its own strengths and weaknesses.
- A CPT is generally more reliable than self-reporting, since it captures objective, moment-to-moment behavioral data rather than a subject’s own biased recollection. However, different CPTs use different tasks and stimuli, making them often incomparable.
- Though a pooled meta-analysis may offer a more comprehensive view of attention span, methodological differences within a meta-analysis may muddy comparisons.
Attention-Span Proxies
| Proxy Type | Description | Examples |
|---|---|---|
| Continuous Performance Tests (CPT) | Lab-based vigilance tasks where participants respond to a repeated stimulus over time; researchers track how long accurate, consistent responding is sustained before it degrades. | A-Span tests |
| Screen/Device Logging | Passive and unobtrusive software logging of how long a person stays on one screen, app, or window | Computer assessments |
| Self Reporting | Participants are asked to estimate their own ability to concentrate | Surveys |
| Pooled Meta-Analysis | Aggregated statistics from apps or platforms (e.g., average video view duration) used as an attention proxy. | Platform Analytics |
Sources: Table 33
Attention Span Over Time: Year-by-Year Estimates
No single continuously run survey has tracked attention span consistently each year. However, a series of separate studies led by Dr. Gloria Mark at UC Irvine use screen-activity logging as a proxy for attention span, measuring the time a subject stays on one screen before switching attention to another. The methodology was consistent across these studies, proving a useful comparison.
From 2003 to 2016, screen-based attention span appears to have dropped from roughly 150 seconds to 47, a decline of over 100 seconds, ~⅔. Dr. Mark refers to this kind of attention as “kinetic”, much like the alternating attention definition described by Sohlberg and Mateer.
Year vs. Estimated Attention Span In Seconds
| Data Year(s) | Estimate (seconds) | Method | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2003 | ~150 | In-person shadowing of 14 information workers, measured how long they stayed on a given task/screen before switching. | González, Mark., “Constant, Constant, Multitasking Craziness,” 2004 |
| 2012 | ~75 | Unobtrusive computer activity logging. | Mark, G. |
| 2014-2016 | ~47 | Unobtrusive computer activity logging. | Mark, G. |
Sources: Table 44
Attention Span Over a Lifetime: Age vs. Attention
The most reliable data on attention span across ages comes from a 2023 study published via the National Library of Medicine, conducted with children (between 7 and 13 years), young adults (between 19 and 32 years), and older adults (between 56 and 85 years). This study used a continuous performance test (CPT) to measure a variable called “A-span,” defined as the length of time participants could sustain correct, consistent responses.
- Children had the lowest A-span (29.61 seconds), which declined significantly (−27.41%) over the CPT.
- Young adults had the highest A-span of 76.24 seconds, which did not decline significantly (20.02%).
- Finally, the older adults had an A-span of 67.01 seconds, which, like young adults, did not decline significantly (-8.40%).
- Young adults had the longest A-spans even compared to their older adult counterparts, despite growing fears about the effects of technology on younger generations.
Age vs. A-Span, Median A-Span % Change
| Age Group in Years | Mean Attention Span (sec) | Median A-span % Change | A-span % Change P value |
|---|---|---|---|
| Children (7-13) | 29.61 | −27.41% | 0.003 (significant) |
| Young Adults (19-32) | 76.24 | -2.54% | 0.328 (not significant) |
| Older Adults (56-85) | 67.01 | -8.40% | 0.606 (not significant) |
Sources: Table 55
Self-Reporting: Technology and Public Perception
While some light has been shed on statistics around age and attention span, another variable is how discourse shapes conversations, especially around technology. A study conducted in 2022 by King’s College London notes that half of the public (49%) feel their attention span is shorter than it used to be, compared with around a quarter (23%) who believe they are just as attentive as they’ve always been.
These sentiments are split across age groups:
- Ages 18-34 and 35-54 both have a majority belief in all three statements, reflecting anxiety among both younger and middle-aged adults.
- Ages 55+, in contrast, do not self-report a shorter attention span; however, they overwhelmingly believe younger generations have a shorter attention span (71%).
Self-reporting does not reflect an actual shortened attention span; rather, it shows that general anxiety about technology and attention span is on the rise.
Age vs. % In Agreement With Proposed Statement
| Age Group in Years | “I feel like my attention span is shorter than it used to be” | “I believe youngpeople today have shorter attention spans than young people in the past” | “We are livingthrough a time where the media is in non-stop competition for our attention” |
|---|---|---|---|
| 18-34 | 58% | 58% | 61% |
| 35-54 | 56% | 66% | 73% |
| 55+ | 36% | 71% | 82% |
Sources: Table 66
Conclusion
The common belief that attention spans have shrunk in recent years reflects a mix of real executive-function decline and growing anxiety about technology. Attention span remains a murky field, and a lack of consistent, long-running research keeps a definitive statistical answer out of reach. The data we do have ultimately support a genuine shift in attention span, specifically related to screen-switching behavior over the past two decades.
For a closer look at how attention span is measured for ADHD diagnoses, see Prevalence Of ADHD: 2026 Report On Trends, Adult Persistence, And Diagnostic Criteria Effects. To learn how structured coaching can support executive functioning, explore this article on the 2026 rankings for the Best Executive Functioning Coaches.
References
1 Policy Institute & Center for Attention Studies, King’s College London (2022). “Do We Have Your Attention? How People Focus and Live in the Modern Information Environment.”
2 Mark, G. (2023). Attention Span: A Groundbreaking Way to Restore Balance, Happiness and Productivity. HarperCollins.
3 (James W (1890). The Principles of Psychology. Vol. 1. New York: Henry Holt. pp. 403–404.)
1Table 1:
- Sohlberg MM, Mateer CA (1989). Introduction to cognitive rehabilitation: theory and practice. New York: Guilford Press. ISBN 978-0-89862-738-1.
- South African College of Applied Psychology. (n.d.). Types of attention. SACAP. https://www.sacap.edu.za/blog/applied-psychology/types-of-attention/
- Atlantic International University. (n.d.). Neuropsychology of attention: Foundations, types, and importance in daily life.AIU. https://www.aiu.edu/blog/neuropsychology-of-attention-foundations-types-and-importance-in-daily-life/
2Table 2:
- “NIPS 2017”. Interpretable ML Symposium. 2017-10-20. Archived from the original on 2019-09-07.
- Robertson IH, O’Connell R (2010). “Vigilant attention.”. In Nobre AC, Nobre K, Coull JT (eds.). Attention and Time. Oxford University Press. pp. 79–88. ISBN 978-0-19-956345-6.
- Klein JT, Shepherd SV, Platt ML (November 2009). “Social attention and the brain”. Current Biology. 19 (20): R958–62. Bibcode:2009CBio…19.R958K. doi:10.1016/j.cub.2009.08.010. PMC 3387539. PMID 19889376.
3Table 3:
- (Synthesized from the sources of Tables 4–6)
4Table 4:
- American Psychological Association. (n.d.). Attention spans [Audio podcast episode]. In Speaking of Psychology.https://www.apa.org/news/podcasts/speaking-of-psychology/attention-spans
- González, V. M., & Mark, G. (2004). “Constant, constant, multitasking craziness”: Managing multiple working spheres. In Proceedings of the SIGCHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (pp. 113–120). ACM.
- Mark, G., González, V. M., & Harris, J. (2005). No task left behind? Examining the nature of fragmented work. In Proceedings of the SIGCHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (pp. 321–330). ACM.
- Mark, G., Wang, Y., & Niiya, M. (2014). Stress and multitasking in everyday college life: An empirical study of online activity. In Proceedings of the SIGCHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (pp. 41–50). ACM.
- Yeykelis, L., Cummings, J. J., & Reeves, B. (2014). Multitasking on a single device: Arousal and the frequency, anticipation, and prediction of switching between media content on a computer. Journal of Communication, 64(1), 167–192. https://doi.org/10.1111/jcom.12070
5Table 5:
- Simon, A. J., Gallen, C. L., Ziegler, D. A., Mishra, J., Marco, E. J., Anguera, J. A., & Gazzaley, A. (2023). Quantifying attention span across the lifespan. Frontiers in Cognition, 2, Article 1207428. https://doi.org/10.3389/fcogn.2023.1207428
6Table 6:
- Policy Institute & Center for Attention Studies, King’s College London. (2022). Do we have your attention? How people focus and live in the modern information environment. King’s College London.
