title: The development of involuntary and voluntary attention from childhood to adulthood: a combined behavioral and event-related potential study.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  This study investigated auditory involuntary and voluntary attention in children aged 6-8, 10-12 and young adults. The strength of distracting stimuli (20% and 5% pitch changes) and the amount of allocation of attention were varied.
  
  
  METHODS
  In an auditory distraction paradigm event-related potentials (ERPs) and behavioral data were measured from subjects either performing a sound duration discrimination task or watching a silent video.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Pitch changed sounds caused prolonged reaction times and decreased hit rates in all age groups. Larger distractors (20%) caused stronger distraction in children, but not in adults. The amplitudes of mismatch negativity (MMN), P3a, and reorienting negativity (RON) were modulated by age and by voluntary attention. P3a was additionally affected by distractor strength. Maturational changes were also observed in the amplitudes of P1 (decreasing with age) and N1 (increasing with age). P2-modulation by voluntary attention was opposite in young children and adults.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Results suggest quantitative and qualitative changes in auditory voluntary and involuntary attention and distraction during development. The processing steps involved in distraction (pre-attentive change detection, attention switch, reorienting) are functional in children aged 6-8 but reveal characteristic differences to those of young adults. In general, distractibility as indicated by behavioral and ERP measures decreases from childhood to adulthood.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Behavioral and ERP markers for different processing stages involved in voluntary and involuntary attention reveal characteristic developmental changes from childhood to young adulthood.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Psychology I, University of Leipzig, Germany. wetzel@psychologie.uni-leipzig.de
authors.forename: Nicole
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Wetzel
authors.forename: Andreas
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Widmann
authors.forename: Stefan
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Berti
authors.forename: Erich
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Schröger
mesh_terms: D000161:Acoustic Stimulation; D000328:Adult; D000375:Aging; D001288:Attention / Q000502:physiology*; D001519:Behavior / Q000502:physiology*; D001921:Brain / Q000502:physiology*; D002648:Child; D004569:Electroencephalography; D005072:Evoked Potentials, Auditory / Q000502:physiology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D011597:Psychomotor Performance / Q000502:physiology*