Developmental Aspects of Temporal and Spatial Visual Attention: Insights from the Attentional Blink and Visual Search Tasks

Abstract

Frontal regions of the human cortex are thought to reach full maturation last in the course of development. The present report examines such development in the context of attentional tasks in the temporal (e.g., the attentional blink, AB, paradigm) and spatial (e.g., the visual search, VS, paradigm) domains. Here we show that the recovery from AB is progressively longer with younger age by studying 7-, 12-, 15-year-olds, and adults participating on a modified AB task. By contrast, we found no difference between 7-year-olds and adults in a VS task using the same target stimuli as in the AB task. This differential pattern of development between temporal and spatial attention is discussed in relation to visual working memory development, clinical populations, and general mechanisms of cortical development.

Keywords:

• Development
• Attentional blink
• Visual search
• Visual attention
• Frontal lobe function

Notes

¹The magnetic equivalent of P300.

²When the ANOVA is performed using data from both conditions, the interaction Age × Condition × Position is also significant, F(15, 300) = 2.44, p < .03.

³This effect has been replicated with other stimuli (Garrad-Cole, unpublished data).