Why are children so distractible? Development of attention and motor control from childhood to adulthood

Abstract

mailing address: CRNL Equipe DYCOG, 95 Boulevard Pinel 10 69500 Bron, France, phone number: +33 (0)4 72 13 89 00, fax: +33 (0)4 72 13 89 01 11 12 Abstract 13 Distractibility is the propensity to behaviorally react to irrelevant information in a world flooded with 14 sensory stimulation. Children are more distractible the younger they are. The precise contribution of 15 attentional and motor components to distractibility and their developmental trajectories have not been 16 characterized yet. We used a new behavioral paradigm to identify the developmental dynamics of 17 components contributing to distractibility in a large cohort of participants (N=352; age range: 6-25). We 18 assessed the specific developmental trajectories of voluntary attention and distraction, as well as 19 impulsivity and motor control. Our results reveal that each of these components present distinct 20 maturational timelines. These findings show that in young children, increased distractibility is mostly the 21 result of reduced sustained attention capacities and enhanced distraction, while in teenagers, it is the 22 result of decreased motor control and increased impulsivity. 23 24 25

Differences in sustained attention but not distraction in preschoolers from lower socioeconomic status backgrounds

“…We used the Competitive Attention Task (CAT) to simultaneously measure voluntary attention, distraction, phasic arousal, impulsivity and motor control in 4-and 5-year-old children from higher and lower SES backgrounds (N=72). Irrespective of age and SES, distracting sounds induce distraction and facilitation effects, as well as increased impulsivity, which is developmentally consistent with previous studies in older children and adults (Hoyer et. al., 2021).…”

“…Distractibility. The term 'distractibility' has been used to describe the state determining the propensity of isolated, unexpected, and task-irrelevant stimuli to disturb the voluntary attention mechanisms necessary for ongoing task performance (Bidet-Caulet et al, 2015;ElShafei et al, 2019;ElShafei, Fornoni, et al, 2018;Hoyer et al, 2021;. Meanwhile, voluntary mechanisms can modulate involuntary processes of attentional capture (ElShafei, Fornoni, et al, 2018;ElShafei et al, 2019).…”

“…There is a common understanding that preschool children are highly distractible. Compared to adults, children's attentional capacities are more sensitive to irrelevant auditory interference from the local environment (Hoyer et al, 2021;Wetzel et al, 2006Wetzel et al, , 2016Wetzel & Schröger, 2014). It is known that the frontal lobe systems display a prolonged developmental time course (Gogtay, et al, 2004;Toga et al, 2006), so it is unsurprising that the immature executive system results in poorer conflict monitoring and control during childhood (Best & Miller, 2010;Blakemore & Choudhury, 2006).…”

“…In preschool-aged children, sustained attention is commonly investigated using passive looking paradigms (Brandes-Aitken et al, 2019;Reynolds & Romano, 2016;Richards & Casey, 1991) and adaptations of the Continuous Performance Test (CPT; Conners, 2001;Mahone et al, 2001). Taken together, results from these studies suggest that sustained attention abilities emerge within the first years of life and continues to develop through adolescence (Brandes-Aitken et al, 2019;Hoyer et al, 2021;Kanaka et al, 2008;Reynolds & Romano, 2016;Thillay et al, 2015).…”

“…The Competitive Attention Test (CAT) is a paradigm designed to assess the behavioral and brain correlates of distractibility (Bidet-Caulet et al, 2015). The advantage of this paradigm is that it combines the Posner task and oddball paradigm principles to provide simultaneous and dissociated measures of voluntary attention, distraction, phasic arousal, impulsivity and motor control in children and adults (Hoyer et al, 2021). To assess voluntary attention orienting, the CAT includes informative and uninformative visual cues toward the spatial location of a forthcoming auditory target.…”