Biological motion and multiple object tracking performance develop similarly from childhood through early adolescence

Abstract

The multiple object tracking (MOT) (Pylyshyn & Storm, 1988) and biological motion (Johansson, 1973) tasks are both used to assess the perception of and attention to motion. These abilities are essential to the dynamic real-world task of identifying and monitoring multiple moving stimuli in the environment. We examined cross-sectionally the developmental changes in dynamic visual attention using 3D versions of both the MOT task and a masked direction discrimination biological motion task among 42 children and adolescents aged 6–14 years. The concurrent examination of these two tasks also allowed for an initial assessment of the pattern of task performance improvements with age. Performance on both tasks was found to improve with age and the relationship between the two tasks did not differ as a function of age, suggesting that biological motion and MOT attentional abilities improve similarly across age.