Children's selective attention with variation in amount of stimulus exposure

Abstract

Selective attention in children was measured by means of a central-incidental learning paradigm. Children performed a central task requiring attention to one element in each of several stimuli, after which their incidental learning was assessed by a combination of two tests measuring: (a) recognition of the second, or incidental, element in each stimulus, and (b) association between the incidental and central elements. Principal independent variables were the age of the children (9 vs 12 years) and the amount of exposure time per trial in the central task (6 vs 12 sec). Douling the exposure time increased the incidental as well as the central scores for 9-year-olds, while it increased only the central scores for 12-year-olds. It would appear that younger children maintain a relatively nonselective orientation during an extended exposure period, distributing attention between both relevant and irrelevant stimulus elements, whereas adolescents adopt a more selective approach and concentrate exclusively on task-relevant information. The results are discussed in relation to hypotheses regarding development of selective attention.