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A developmental study of covert orienting to peripheral visual cues.
1Department of Psychology, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada.
Journal of Experimental Child Psychology
|October 1, 1989
Summary
Children and adults automatically shift visual attention to cued locations. However, only adults utilize predictable cues, indicating developmental differences in attentional strategies.
Area of Science:
- Cognitive Psychology
- Developmental Psychology
- Neuroscience
Background:
- Covert shifts of visual attention are crucial for information processing.
- Understanding the developmental trajectory of attentional control is essential for cognitive science.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate age-related differences in covert visual attention using a speeded classification task.
- To examine how cue predictability influences attentional orienting across different age groups.
Main Methods:
- Participants aged 6, 8, and 20 years completed a visual attention task with neutral, unpredictable, and predictable cues.
- Reaction times to targets appearing in cued and non-cued locations were measured.
Main Results:
- All age groups automatically oriented attention to cued locations.
- Children exhibited slower processing of targets in non-cued locations compared to adults.
- Only adults demonstrated the ability to strategically use predictable cues.
- Evidence suggests strategic orienting and response priming compete for cognitive resources across all ages.
Conclusions:
- Attentional development shows a progression from automatic cueing to strategic utilization of predictability.
- Cognitive resource allocation for attention is refined throughout development.
- Findings inform theories on the maturation of executive functions and attentional control.