Attention Network Interactions in Children and Adults

Abstract

This developmental study on attention was centered around Posner and Petersen's (1990) theory of attention. Their model suggested that attention is governed by three semi-independent brain networks of attention: the posterior orienting system, the anterior attention system, and the vigilance/alerting system. Eight experiments were presented to adults and children to address three core issues: Firstly, what are the interactions between the three aspects of attention and how did they develop? Secondly, is attention qualitatively different or just limited in capacity in children as compared to adults? Thirdly, is attention a collection of related processes or rather a unitary construct? Part One of the study was mainly concerned with the development of three methods for the study of spatial orienting of attention, conflict resolution (or decision making), and vigilance and alerting. Existing task protocols for each aspect of attention were adapted for use with young children and validated to ensure equivalence with adults' versions of the tasks. It was found that the three basic attention functions of decision making, orienting, and alerting were already established in children. Like adults, children showed significant orienting, Stroop, and alerting effects, albeit slower reaction times. Part Two of the study focused on interactions of the attention systems in children of different age groups and adults. It was found that the interaction between the anterior attention system and the posterior orienting system was of the same hierarchical nature in children as in adults. In contrast, it was found that the vigilance/alerting system in children seemed to fail to "energise" the other attention systems as it did in adults. The results from the present study supported Posner and Petersen's view, that attention is most likely to be a collection of related processes, because there is differential development of interactions between attention functions. Possible reasons for the differences found between attention in children and adults, as well as the implications of this study for further research into the development of attention and the mechanisms underlying attention deficit-hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), and learning and education are discussed.