Endogenous control is insufficient for preventing attentional capture in children and adults
Adults are known to have developed the ability to selectively focus their attention in a goal-driven (endogenous) manner but it is less clear at what stage in development (5–6 & 9–11 years) children can endogenously control their attention and whether they behave similarly to adults when man...
| Main Authors: | , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Elsevier
2022-08-01
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| Series: | Acta Psychologica |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0001691822001263 |
| _version_ | 1818529326631485440 |
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| author | Rumandeep K. Hayre Lucy Cragg Harriet A. Allen |
| author_facet | Rumandeep K. Hayre Lucy Cragg Harriet A. Allen |
| author_sort | Rumandeep K. Hayre |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Adults are known to have developed the ability to selectively focus their attention in a goal-driven (endogenous) manner but it is less clear at what stage in development (5–6 & 9–11 years) children can endogenously control their attention and whether they behave similarly to adults when managing distractions. In this study we administered a child-adapted cued visual search task to three age-groups: five- to six-year-olds (N = 45), nine- to eleven-year-olds (N = 42) and adults (N = 42). Participants were provided with a cue which either guided their attention towards or away from an upcoming target. On some trials, a singleton distracter was presented which participants needed to ignore. Participants completed three conditions where the cues were: 1) usually helpful (High Predictive), 2) usually unhelpful (Low Predictive) and 3) never helpful (Baseline) in guiding attention towards the target. We found that endogenous cue-utilisation develops with increasing age. Overall, nine- to eleven-year-olds and adults, but not five- to six-year-olds, utilised the endogenous cues in the High Predictive condition. However, all age-groups were unable to ignore the singleton distracter even when using endogenous control. Moreover, we found better cue-maintenance ability was related to poorer distracter-inhibition ability in early-childhood, but these skills were no longer related further on in development. We conclude that overall endogenous control is still developing in early-childhood, but an adult-like form of this skill has been acquired by mid-childhood. Furthermore, endogenous cue-utilisation was shown as insufficient for preventing attentional capture in both children and adults. |
| first_indexed | 2024-12-11T17:05:27Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-30b85111186245308ab6768e69111239 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 0001-6918 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-12-11T17:05:27Z |
| publishDate | 2022-08-01 |
| publisher | Elsevier |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Acta Psychologica |
| spelling | doaj.art-30b85111186245308ab6768e691112392022-12-22T00:57:41ZengElsevierActa Psychologica0001-69182022-08-01228103611Endogenous control is insufficient for preventing attentional capture in children and adultsRumandeep K. Hayre0Lucy Cragg1Harriet A. Allen2Corresponding author at: School of Psychology, University of Birmingham, Birmingham, UK.; School of Psychology, University of Nottingham, Nottingham, UKSchool of Psychology, University of Nottingham, Nottingham, UKSchool of Psychology, University of Nottingham, Nottingham, UKAdults are known to have developed the ability to selectively focus their attention in a goal-driven (endogenous) manner but it is less clear at what stage in development (5–6 & 9–11 years) children can endogenously control their attention and whether they behave similarly to adults when managing distractions. In this study we administered a child-adapted cued visual search task to three age-groups: five- to six-year-olds (N = 45), nine- to eleven-year-olds (N = 42) and adults (N = 42). Participants were provided with a cue which either guided their attention towards or away from an upcoming target. On some trials, a singleton distracter was presented which participants needed to ignore. Participants completed three conditions where the cues were: 1) usually helpful (High Predictive), 2) usually unhelpful (Low Predictive) and 3) never helpful (Baseline) in guiding attention towards the target. We found that endogenous cue-utilisation develops with increasing age. Overall, nine- to eleven-year-olds and adults, but not five- to six-year-olds, utilised the endogenous cues in the High Predictive condition. However, all age-groups were unable to ignore the singleton distracter even when using endogenous control. Moreover, we found better cue-maintenance ability was related to poorer distracter-inhibition ability in early-childhood, but these skills were no longer related further on in development. We conclude that overall endogenous control is still developing in early-childhood, but an adult-like form of this skill has been acquired by mid-childhood. Furthermore, endogenous cue-utilisation was shown as insufficient for preventing attentional capture in both children and adults.http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0001691822001263DevelopmentEndogenous cuesProactive controlAttentional captureVisual searchOrienting |
| spellingShingle | Rumandeep K. Hayre Lucy Cragg Harriet A. Allen Endogenous control is insufficient for preventing attentional capture in children and adults Acta Psychologica Development Endogenous cues Proactive control Attentional capture Visual search Orienting |
| title | Endogenous control is insufficient for preventing attentional capture in children and adults |
| title_full | Endogenous control is insufficient for preventing attentional capture in children and adults |
| title_fullStr | Endogenous control is insufficient for preventing attentional capture in children and adults |
| title_full_unstemmed | Endogenous control is insufficient for preventing attentional capture in children and adults |
| title_short | Endogenous control is insufficient for preventing attentional capture in children and adults |
| title_sort | endogenous control is insufficient for preventing attentional capture in children and adults |
| topic | Development Endogenous cues Proactive control Attentional capture Visual search Orienting |
| url | http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0001691822001263 |
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