TY  - JOUR
PY  - 2013//
TI  - Effect of external irrelevant distracters on a visual search test in school-age children: Computerized assessment
JO  - Journal of attention disorders
A1  - Quiroga, M. A.
A1  - Santacreu, J.
A1  - López-Cavada, C.
A1  - Capote, E.
A1  - Morillo, D.
SP  - ePub
EP  - ePub
VL  - ePub
IS  - ePub
N2  - OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to test the effect of an irrelevant external distracter included in a computer-administered visual search test. Two hypotheses were tested: (a) If the distracter affects performance, attention efficiency will be lowered; (b) if children do not habituate to the distracter, performance will be lower for every item of the test. METHOD: Distraction was induced changing the screen color unexpectedly several times in each trial-450 children (225 girls and 225 boys) from second to sixth course were tested. This group was compared with a group of 423 children from the same age range who were tested with the same test without distraction. RESULTS: Induced distraction reduced attention efficiency for all ages and for every trial in the treatment group (test with distraction). Speed was lower, but number of errors did not increase. CONCLUSION: School-age children cope with an irrelevant external distracter by reducing speed, not accuracy.      Keywords: Driver distraction;<p />  <p>Language: en</p>
LA  - en
SN  - 1087-0547
UR  - http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/1087054713497397
ID  - ref1
ER  -