The ability to shield against distraction while focusing on a task requires the operation of executive functions and is essential for successful learning. We investigated
the short-term dynamics of distraction control in a data set of 269 children aged 4–
10 years and 51 adults pooled from three studies using multilevel models. Participants
performed a visual categorization task while a task-irrelevant sequence of sounds was
presented which consisted of frequently repeated standard sounds and rarely interspersed novel sounds. On average, participants responded slower in the categorization task after novel sounds. This distraction effect was more pronounced in children.
Throughout the experiment, the initially strong distraction effects declined to the level
of adults in the groups of 6- to 10-year-olds. Such a decline was neither observed in
the groups of the 4- and 5-year-olds, who consistently showed a high level of distraction, nor in adults, who showed a constantly low level of distraction throughout the
experimental session. Results indicate that distraction control is a highly dynamic process that qualitatively and quantitatively differs between age groups.We conclude that
the analysis of short-term dynamics provides valuable insights into the development
of attention control and might explain inconsistent findings regarding distraction control in middle childhood. In addition, models of attention control need to be refined to
account for age-dependent rapid learning mechanisms. Our findings have implications
for the design of learning situations and provide an additional source of information for
the diagnosis and treatment of children with attention deficit disorders.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:DRESDEN/oai:qucosa:de:qucosa:91379 |
| Date | 14 May 2024 |
| Creators | Volkmer, Sindram, Wetzel, Nicole, Widmann, Andreas, Scharf, Florian |
| Publisher | Wiley-Blackwell |
| Source Sets | Hochschulschriftenserver (HSSS) der SLUB Dresden |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion, doc-type:article, info:eu-repo/semantics/article, doc-type:Text |
| Rights | info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess |
| Relation | 1363-755X, 1467-7687, 10.1111/desc.13275 |
Page generated in 0.0013 seconds