Selective and divided attention modulates audiovisual integration in adolescents

Abstract

In this article, we choose to set up the control group of adults in order to explore whether there are differences in audiovisual integration between divided attention and selective attention in adolescents. We utilized a visual and/or auditory detection task that consisted of three blocks: divided attention, visual selective attention, and auditory selective attention. The results showed that response times were faster for bimodal audiovisual stimuli than for unimodal auditory or visual stimuli in both the divided and selective attention conditions (all p < .05). Then, we found that audiovisual behavioral facilitation effects in the visual selective attention condition were weaker than those in the divided attention condition in adolescents and adults (p < .001). Moreover, an analysis based on race model showed no significant difference between adolescents and adults under divided (t = 1.386, p = .171) or visual selective (t = -1.026, p = .311) attention conditions, which suggests that multisensory integration in adolescents had reached an adult level. These findings indicate that attention can modulate audiovisual integration in adolescents. These results may help researchers to further understand adolescents' cognitive characteristics.