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Differential Effects of Salient Visual Events on Memory‐Guided Attention in Adults and Children
Author(s) -
Nussenbaum Kate,
Scerif Gaia,
Nobre Anna C.
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.13149
Subject(s) - psychology , cued speech , salient , visual attention , differential effects , developmental psychology , cognitive psychology , visual perception , contrast (vision) , cognition , perception , neuroscience , medicine , artificial intelligence , computer science
Both salient visual events and scene‐based memories can influence attention, but it is unclear how they interact in children and adults. In Experiment 1, children ( N = 27; ages 7–12) were faster to discriminate targets when they appeared at the same versus different location as they had previously learned or as a salient visual event. In contrast, adults ( N = 30; ages 18–31) responded faster only when cued by visual events. While Experiment 2 confirmed that adults ( N = 27) can use memories to orient attention, Experiment 3 showed that, even in the absence of visual events, the effects of memories on attention were larger in children ( N = 27) versus adults ( N = 28). These findings suggest that memories may be a robust source of influence on children's attention.