The capacity to shift the focus of attention from one task to another. This involves the ability to initiate, focus, sustain, inhibit and transfer attention. This capacity is typically measured by performance on card sorting tasks, in which the sorting rule is periodically changed; impaired performance on such tasks can involve difficulties in disengaging from the previously correct rule or in establishing and attending to the new rule.
See Executive function (EF), Wisconsin Card Sorting Task (WCST)