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Updated: Jul 3, 2026

Measuring Attention and Visual Processing Speed by Model-based Analysis of Temporal-order Judgments
Published on: January 23, 2017
Uneven integration for perception and action cues in children's working memory
Marko Nardini1, Oliver Braddick, Janette Atkinson
1Department of Psychology, University College London, London, UK. m.nardini@ucl.ac.uk
Abstract:
We examined the development of visual cue integration in a desktop working-memory task using boxes with different visual action cues (opening actions) and perceptual surface cues (colours, monochromatic textures, or images of faces). Children had to recall which box held a hidden toy, based on (a) the action cue, (b) the surface cue, or (c) a conjunction of the two. Results from three experiments show a set of asymmetries in children's integration of action and surface cues. The 18-24-month-olds disregarded colour in conjunction judgements with action; 30-36-month-olds used colour but disregarded texture. Images of faces were not disregarded at either age. We suggest that 18-24-month-olds' disregard of colour, seen previously in reorientation tasks (Hermer & Spelke, 1994), may represent a general phenomenon, likened to uneven integration between the dorsal and ventral streams in early development.
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