Early Development of Visual Attention: Change, Stability, and Longitudinal Associations

Hendry, Alexandra; Johnson, Mark H.; Holmboe, Karla · 2019 · OpenAlex-citations

DOI: 10.1146/annurev-devpsych-121318-085114

archive: archived pipeline: cataloged verified

Get this paper ↗ (DOI — opens at the source; we link to it, we don't host it)

Summary

This review paper examines the early development of visual attention, characterizing it as a multifaceted, non-linear process fundamental to cognitive trajectories. The authors argue that visual attention is not a unitary construct but comprises distinct functions—orienting, selective filtering, processing, and maintaining focus—that are intertwined and influenced by developmental, motivational, and physical constraints. The paper synthesizes longitudinal evidence linking early attentional markers to later outcomes in emotion regulation, executive function, language, mathematics, literacy, and neurodevelopmental conditions. The review analyzes data from behavioral tasks and neural measures across infancy and toddlerhood. For spatial orienting, the authors examine the Gap/Overlap task, which measures disengagement latency, and spatial cueing paradigms assessing covert orienting mechanisms like facilitation and inhibition of return. Selective attention is evaluated through visual search tasks and preferential looking studies, particularly regarding social stimuli. Processing efficiency is assessed via habituation paradigms measuring look durations, often combined with heart rate monitoring and event-related potentials (ERPs) to distinguish between orienting, sustained attention, and attention termination phases. Key findings indicate that attentional development involves shifting neural control from subcortical circuits in newborns to cortical networks by three to four months. In orienting, infants show rapid improvements in disengagement, though performance can be non-linear; for instance, slower disengagement in toddlers may reflect adaptive executive control rather than inefficiency. Covert orienting shows early facilitation effects, while inhibition of return emerges later, around six months. Regarding selective attention, infants exhibit a strong bias for faces from birth, but individual differences in visual search performance lack stability before age two. By toddlerhood, however, selective attention shows stability and predicts later executive function and academic skills. Look durations in habituation tasks reflect both processing efficiency and disengagement ability; "short lookers" demonstrate more efficient global-to-local processing and better memory performance. The significance of this work lies in its demonstration that early visual attention markers have predictive validity for broader cognitive and regulatory outcomes, particularly in atypical populations such as those with familial history of autism or pre-term birth. The authors conclude that interpreting attentional markers requires a developmental perspective, as the underlying mechanisms and adaptive significance of performance change with age. This understanding is crucial for identifying early risk factors and informing interventions in education and public health.

Provenance

The full processing record for this entry. Every stage of this paper's journey through the pipeline is logged — what ran, with which tool and model, how many attempts it took, and when it last completed.

Summary generated by qwen3.6-27b-prismaquant on 2026-06-26; verification: verified.

Topics

Ranked by relevance to this paper. Hover a topic for its definition.

• attention selective divided