Development of Attention Networks and Their Interactions in Childhood

Autor/inn/en	Pozuelos, Joan P.; Paz-Alonso, Pedro M.; Castillo, Alejandro; Fuentes, Luis J.; Rueda, M. Rosario
Titel	Development of Attention Networks and Their Interactions in Childhood
Quelle	In: Developmental Psychology, 50 (2014) 10, S.2405-2415 (11 Seiten)Infoseite zur Zeitschrift PDF als Volltext Verfügbarkeit
Sprache	englisch
Dokumenttyp	gedruckt; online; Zeitschriftenaufsatz
ISSN	0012-1649
DOI	10.1037/a0037469
Schlagwörter	Attention; Child Development; Cues; Children; Accuracy; Case Studies; Age Differences; Orientation; Reaction Time; Comparative Analysis; Foreign Countries; Spain + Suchen Sie Ihr Suchwort? Aufmerksamkeit; Kindesentwicklung; Stichwort; Child; Kind; Kinder; Case study; Fallstudie; Case Study; Age; Difference; Age difference; Altersunterschied; Orientierung; Reaktionsvermögen; Ausland; Spanien
Abstract	In the present study, we investigated developmental trajectories of alerting, orienting, and executive attention networks and their interactions over childhood. Two cross-sectional experiments were conducted with different samples of 6-to 12-year-old children using modified versions of the attention network task (ANT). In Experiment 1 (N = 106), alerting and orienting cues were independently manipulated, thus allowing examination of interactions between these 2 networks, as well as between them and the executive attention network. In Experiment 2 (N = 159), additional changes were made to the task in order to foster exogenous orienting cues. Results from both studies consistently revealed separate developmental trajectories for each attention network. Children younger than 7 years exhibited stronger benefits from having an alerting auditory signal prior to the target presentation. Developmental changes in orienting were mostly observed on response accuracy between middle and late childhood, whereas executive attention showed increases in efficiency between 7 years and older ages, and further improvements in late childhood. Of importance, across both experiments, significant interactions between alerting and orienting, as well as between each of these and the executive attention network, were observed. Alerting cues led to speeding shifts of attention and enhancing orienting processes. Also, both alerting and orienting cues modulated the magnitude of the flanker interference effect. These findings inform current theoretical models of human attention and its development, characterizing for the first time, the age-related course of attention networks interactions that, present in adults, stem from further refinements over childhood. (As Provided).
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Erfasst von	ERIC (Education Resources Information Center), Washington, DC
Update	2020/1/01