Distraction of attention by novel sounds in children declines fast.

ABSTRACT: New task-irrelevant sounds can distract attention. This study specifies the impact of stimulus novelty and of learning on attention control in three groups of children aged 6-7, 8, and 9-10 years and an adult control group. Participants (N = 179) were instructed to ignore a sound sequence including standard sounds and novel or repeated distractor sounds, while performing a visual categorization task. Distractor sounds impaired performance in children more than in adult controls, demonstrating the long-term development of attention control. Children, but not adults, were more distracted by novel than by repeated sounds, indicating increased sensitivity to novel information. Children, in particular younger children, were highly distracted during the first presentations of novel sounds compar

SUBMITTER: Wetzel N 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7935912 | biostudies-literature | 2021 Mar

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature