Development of inhibition of return for eye gaze in adolescents

Gaze is an important cue in social interaction. Gaze direction can attract attention and produce a cuing effect as well as cause inhibition of return (IOR)--a slower response to an item at a previously attended-to location. Because gaze cue is sensitive to an individual's social interaction ability and such ability matures in adolescents, we examined how social attention by gaze cue varies with age. Three typically developing groups-ages 6 to 8, 9 to 12, and 13 to 15 years--were recruited. Each age group had 27 participants. Three main findings were observed. First, younger participants generated greater cuing effects than older ones. Second, reliable gaze-induced IOR was observed only in the 9- to 12-year and 13- to 15--year age groups, whereas the 6- to 8-year age group paid attention to gaze direction regardless of cue duration. Third, the 13- to 15-year age group showed gaze-induced IOR earlier (1200 ms) in the time course than expected (2400 ms). Our results suggest that the inhibition mechanism develops later than the facilitation mechanism in social attention.