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Abstract:
Recent neurophysiology studies (Taylor, McCarthy, Saliba,
& Degiovanni, 1999) have confirmed behavioral evidence that
face processing improves with age. In contrast, processing of
spatial location appears to be a more automatic, age-independent
function (Schumann-Hengsteler, 1992). These conclusions, however,
have been drawn from separate bodies of findings. Our study
compares these abilities within a single behavioral paradigm, using
two tasks that differ only by instructions given. Participants were
healthy adults and children aged 8-12. During each trial, a series
of three face photographs were presented in different locations on
a computer screen. Participants decided if two of the stimuli
matched by identity for face processing trials and by spatial
location for location processing trials. In addition, processing
demands were manipulated in two ways: a mixed condition in which
participants shifted between the faces and the locations tasks
every 6 trials, and a working memory load manipulation in which
presentation of the to-be-matched probe was delayed. In the blocked
version, children, like adults, showed no differences in reaction
time or accuracy on the two tasks. However, when processing demands
were increased (mixed version), children showed an increase in
reaction time for faces trials, but not for locations trials. This
finding suggests that face processing may be selectively affected
by processing demands. Data from younger children (aged 6-7) and
findings from the working memory load manipulation will also be
presented.
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