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Can't Ignore—Distraction by Task‐Irrelevant Sounds in Early and Middle Childhood
Author(s) -
Wetzel Nicole,
Scharf Florian,
Widmann Andreas
Publication year - 2018
Publication title -
child development
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 3.103
H-Index - 257
eISSN - 1467-8624
pISSN - 0009-3920
DOI - 10.1111/cdev.13109
Subject(s) - distraction , psychology , categorization , task (project management) , developmental psychology , attentional control , early childhood , audiology , cognitive psychology , cognition , medicine , philosophy , management , epistemology , neuroscience , economics
Attention control abilities are relevant for learning success. Little is known about the development of audio‐visual attention in early childhood. Four groups of children between the ages of 4 and 10 years and adults performed an audio‐visual distraction paradigm ( N = 106). Multilevel analyses revealed increased reaction times in a visual categorization task when task‐irrelevant novel sounds were presented, demonstrating involuntary distraction of attention. This distraction effect decreased with age and significantly differed between age groups. In addition, the two youngest age groups responded with a delay in trials following a distractor trial, indicating delayed reallocation of attention to the task at hand. Results indicate a significant maturation of audio‐visual attention control within a few years during early childhood that continues throughout middle childhood.