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Journal article

Be there on time: spatial-temporal regularities guide young children’s attention in dynamic environments

Abstract:
Children's ability to benefit from spatiotemporal regularities to detect goal-relevant targets was tested in a dynamic, extended context. Young adults and children (from a low-deprivation area school in the UK; N=80; 5-6 years; 39 female; ethics approval did not permit individual-level race/ethnicity surveying) completed a dynamic visual-search task. Targets and distractors faded in and out of a display over seconds. Half of the targets appeared at predictable times and locations. Search performance in children was poorer overall. Nevertheless, they benefitted equivalently from spatiotemporal regularities, detecting more predictable than unpredictable targets. Children's benefits from predictions correlated positively with their attention. The study brings ecological validity to the study of attentional guidance in children, revealing striking behavioural benefits of dynamic experience-based predictions.
Publication status:
Published
Peer review status:
Peer reviewed

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Publisher copy:
10.1111/cdev.13770

Authors


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Institution:
University of Oxford
Division:
MSD
Department:
Psychiatry
Role:
Author
ORCID:
0000-0001-5762-2802


Publisher:
Wiley
Journal:
Child Development More from this journal
Volume:
93
Issue:
5
Pages:
1414-1426
Publication date:
2022-04-06
Acceptance date:
2022-02-28
DOI:
EISSN:
1467-8624
ISSN:
0009-3920


Language:
English
Keywords:
Pubs id:
1243869
Local pid:
pubs:1243869
Deposit date:
2022-03-14

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