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Updated: Aug 15, 2026
06:46
Investigating the Deployment of Visual Attention Before Accurate and Averaging Saccades via Eye Tracking and Assessment of Visual Sensitivity
Published on: March 18, 2019
Development of attentional and oculomotor control
Arthur F Kramer1, Jessica C M Gonzalez de Sather, Nicholas D Cassavaugh
1Beckman Institute, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 61801, USA. akramer@cyrus.psych.uiuc.edu
Developmental Psychology
|September 22, 2005
Summary
This study shows that the ability to control eye movements and inhibit distractions improves with age, particularly between childhood and young adulthood. Reaction times for eye movements decrease as individuals mature.
Area of Science:
- Neuroscience
- Developmental Psychology
- Cognitive Science
Background:
- Attentional control and oculomotor (eye movement) skills are crucial for daily functioning.
- Understanding the developmental trajectory of these abilities, especially response inhibition to distractors, is important.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the developmental changes in attentional and oculomotor control.
- Specifically, to examine the maturation of inhibiting prepotent responses to salient distractors.
Main Methods:
- Participants aged 8–25 years completed three eye movement tasks: prosaccade, antisaccade, and oculomotor capture.
- Saccade initiation time and accuracy were measured across tasks and age groups.
Main Results:
- Saccade initiation time decreased with age across all tasks.
- Antisaccade task performance improved with age, stabilizing around 16 years.
- Oculomotor capture task performance showed minimal age-related changes, unlike the antisaccade task.
Conclusions:
- Developmental differences exist in how goal-directed and stimulus-driven processes interact to control attention and action.
- Inhibitory control for eye movements matures significantly during adolescence.
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