Effects of distraction on visual enumeration in children and adults

Journal article


Maylor, Elizabeth, Watson, Derrick and Hartley, Emma. (2011). Effects of distraction on visual enumeration in children and adults. Developmental Psychology. 47(5), pp. 1440 - 1447. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0024464
AuthorsMaylor, Elizabeth, Watson, Derrick and Hartley, Emma
Abstract

Speeded enumeration of visual stimuli typically produces a bilinear function, with a shallow subitizing rate (/item) up to 3–4 items (subitizing span) and a steeper counting rate (~300 ms/item) thereafter. FINST theory (L. M. Trick & Z. W. Pylyshyn, 1993, 1994) suggests that subitizing of targets is possible in the presence of distractors if attention is not required for target detection, but this has not been tested in children. The present study explored enumeration without distractors (Os alone) and with distractors (Os among Xs) in 35 children aged 6–11 years and 17 adults. Subitizing span increased significantly from childhood to adulthood, and counting rate increased significantly with age. Bilinear functions were significantly better than linear fits to the data for most children and adults both without distractors (97% and 100%, respectively) and with distractors (89% and 94%), consistent with their efficient visual search for a single O among multiple Xs. These findings are discussed in comparison with those from new modeling of earlier enumeration data from young and older adults, revealing striking asymmetries in subitizing with distractors between development and aging.

Keywordssubitizing; counting; distraction; development; aging
Year2011
JournalDevelopmental Psychology
Journal citation47 (5), pp. 1440 - 1447
PublisherAmerican Psychological Association
ISSN0012-1649
Digital Object Identifier (DOI)https://doi.org/10.1037/a0024464
Scopus EID2-s2.0-80052867102
Page range1440 - 1447
Publisher's version
File Access Level
Controlled
Place of publicationUnited States of America
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https://acuresearchbank.acu.edu.au/item/86414/effects-of-distraction-on-visual-enumeration-in-children-and-adults

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