Developmental Trends in the Processing of Task-Relevant and Task-Irrelevant Information

The role of perceptual discrimination in the development of the ability to process information selectively was investigated. With an incidental learning paradigm the discriminability between relevant and irrelevant stimuli was experimentally varied in two ways: contiguity vs. noncontiguity in spatial arrangements and alternating vs. nonalternating arrangements. The Ss were 80 children in each of the fourth, sixth, and eighth grades. It was concluded that the developmental change responsible for selective information processing did not involve improved visual discrimination. A posttest questionnaire revealed that older Ss were characterized by more efficient encoding and rehearsal strategies, which were postulated as the basis for the older Ss' relatively better ability to process information selectively.