Viewpoint matters: Exploring the involvement of reference frames in multiple object tracking from a developmental perspective

Staying and Returning dynamics of young children's attention

In this paper, we decompose selective sustained attending behavior into components of continuous attention maintenance and attentional transitions and study how each of these components develops in young children. Our results in two experiments suggest that changes in children's ability to return attention to a target locus after distraction ("Returning") play a crucial role in the development of selective sustained attention between the ages of 3.5-6 years, perhaps to a greater extent than changes in the ability to continuously maintain attention on the target ("Staying"). We further distinguish Returning from the behavior of transitioning attention away from task (i.e., becoming distracted) and investigate the relative contributions of bottom-up and top-down factors on these different types of attentional transitions. Overall, these results (a) suggest the importance of understanding the cognitive process of transitioning attention for understanding selective sustained attention and its development, (b) provide an empirical paradigm within which to study this process, and (c) begin to characterize basic features of this process, namely its development and its relative dependence on top-down and bottom-up influences on attention. RESEARCH HIGHLIGHTS: Young children exhibited an endogenously ability, Returning, to preferentially transition attention to task-relevant information over task-irrelevant information. Selective sustained attention and its development were decomposed into Returning and Staying, or task-selective attention maintenance, using novel eye-tracking-based measures. Returning improved between the ages of 3.5-6 years, to a greater extent than Staying. Improvements in Returning supported improvements in selective sustained attention between these ages.

Distinctive patterns of Multiple Object-Tracking performance trajectories in youth with deficits in attention, learning, and intelligence

There is a significant overlap in symptomology between individuals with deficits in attention and learning, which is explained by the co-dependent dynamic between the two cognitive constructs. Within this dynamic, attentional resources are allocated to salient stimuli while learning mechanisms distinguish relevant from irrelevant information. Moreover, individuals with deficits in higher-order cognition (i.e., intelligence) can demonstrate difficulties in attention and learning. The Multiple Object-Tracking (MOT) task is a sensitive and versatile measure of attention that has characterized individual differences in attention as a function of higher-order cognition. Exploiting the traditional MOT task's ability to characterize the allocation of attentional resources to task demands, the current study compared learning exhibited on an attention-based task across neurodevelopmental conditions defined by deficits in attention (attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder; ADHD), learning (specific learning disorder; SLD), and intelligence (intellectual developmental disorder; IDD). Children and adolescents (N = 101) completed 15 sessions on a Multiple Object-Tracking (MOT) task where performance trajectories were analyzed using latent growth curve modeling and conditioned by the presence of ADHD, SLD, or IDD while controlling for performance on a separate measure of attention, age, and sex. The sample, characterized by below-average IQ and problematic levels of attention, exhibited an effect of learning on MOT. However, individuals with an IDD diagnosis demonstrated decreased baseline MOT capability while ADHD and SLD profiles exhibited decreased slopes, relative to other neurodevelopmental conditions. Taken together, the results demonstrate distinct linear performance trajectories between neurodevelopmental conditions defined by deficits in attention, learning, and intelligence. The current study provides additional evidence to repurpose the traditional MOT task as a descriptor of attention and discusses alternative uses for the paradigm. Overall, these results suggest an eclectic approach that considers attention, learning, and higher-order cognition when diagnosing ADHD, SLD, or IDD.

Individual differences in visual attention: A short, reliable, open-source, and multilingual test of multiple object tracking in PsychoPy

Individual differences in attentional abilities provide an interesting approach in studying visual attention as well as the relation of attention to other psychometric measures. However, recent research has demonstrated that many tasks from experimental research are not suitable for individual differences research, as they fail to capture these differences reliably. Here, we provide a test for individual differences in visual attention which relies on the multiple object tracking task (MOT). This test captures individual differences reliably in 6 to 15 min. Within the task, the participants have to maintain a set of targets (among identical distractors) across an interval of object motion. It captures the efficiency of attentional deployment. Importantly, this test was explicitly designed and tested for reliability under conditions that match those of most laboratory research (restricted sample of students, approximately n = 50). The test is free to use and runs fully under open-source software. In order to facilitate the application of the test, we have translated it into 16 common languages (Chinese, Danish, Dutch, English, Finnish, French, German, Italian, Japanese, Norwegian, Polish, Portuguese, Russian, Spanish, Swedish, and Turkish). The test can be downloaded at https://osf.io/qy6nb/ . We hope that this MOT test supports researchers whose field of study requires capturing individual differences in visual attention reliably.

Connection-based and object-based grouping in multiple-object tracking: A developmental study

Developmental research on Gestalt laws has previously revealed that, even as young as infancy, we are bound to group visual elements into unitary structures in accordance with a variety of organizational principles. Here, we focus on the developmental trajectory of both connection-based and object-based grouping, and investigate their impact on object formation in participants, aged 9-21 years old (N = 113), using a multiple-object tracking paradigm. Results reveal a main effect of both age and grouping type, indicating that 9- to 21-year-olds are sensitive to both connection-based and object-based grouping interference, and tracking ability increases with age. In addition to its importance for typical development, these results provide an informative baseline to understand clinical aberrations in this regard. Statement of contribution What is already known on this subject? The origin of the Gestalt principles is still an ongoing debate: Are they innate, learned over time, or both? Developmental research has revealed how each Gestalt principle has its own trajectory and unique relationship to visual experience. Both connectedness and object-based grouping play an important role in object formation during childhood. What does this study add? The study identifies how sensitivity to connectedness and object-based grouping evolves in individuals, aged 9-21 years old. Using multiple-object tracking, results reveal that the ability to track multiple objects increases with age. These results provide an informative baseline to understand clinical aberrations in different types of grouping.

Neurocognitive Development of the Resolution of Selective Visuo-Spatial Attention: Functional MRI Evidence From Object Tracking

Our ability to select relevant information from the environment is limited by the resolution of attention – i.e., the minimum size of the region that can be selected. Neural mechanisms that underlie this limit and its development are not yet understood. Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) was performed during an object tracking task in 7- and 11-year-old children, and in young adults. Object tracking activated canonical fronto-parietal attention systems and motion-sensitive area MT in children as young as 7 years. Object tracking performance improved with age, together with stronger recruitment of parietal attention areas and a shift from low-level to higher-level visual areas. Increasing the required resolution of spatial attention – which was implemented by varying the distance between target and distractors in the object tracking task – led to activation increases in fronto-insular cortex, medial frontal cortex including anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) and supplementary motor area, superior colliculi, and thalamus. This core circuitry for attentional precision was recruited by all age groups, but ACC showed an age-related activation reduction. Our results suggest that age-related improvements in selective visual attention and in the resolution of attention are characterized by an increased use of more functionally specialized brain regions during the course of development.