Poster #1 - Biological Motion and Multiple Object Tracking Performance Develop Similarly From Childhood Through Early Adolescence

• In Event: Poster Session 18

Abstract

The multiple object tracking (MOT) (Pylyshyn & Storm, 1988) and biological motion (Johansson, 1973) tasks are designed to assess the perception and attention of motion in order to approximate the dynamic real-world task of identifying and monitoring multiple moving stimuli in the environment. However, the tasks are also qualitatively different, particularly with regard to the nature of the motion, with socially relevant information (i.e., walking human) being presented in the biological motion task and non-social information (i.e., spheres) in the MOT task. As such, we examined cross-sectionally the developmental changes in attention using 3D versions of the MOT task and a masked direction discrimination biological motion task among 44 children and adolescents (23 males) between the ages 6-14 years. The concurrent examination of these tasks allows for an assessment of whether they share a robust developmental trajectory of attention that transcends the differences (i.e., nature of the motion – social vs non-social) between the tasks. As developmental improvements have been cited separately on these tasks (e.g., Annaz et al., 2010; Brockhoff et al., 2016), (1) performance was expected to improve with age for both tasks but (2) the relationship between the two tasks was expected to differ as a function of age due to the attentional bias for socially-relevant information (e.g., Liu et al., 2021), with earlier development expected.
A linear regression was conducted to examine the relationship between MOT and biological motion task performance. The results revealed a statistically significant model: F(1, 42) = 16.29, p < .001, R2 = 0.28, Adjusted R2 = 0.26; with biological motion performance predicting MOT performance: b = 0.004, t(42) = 4.04, p < .001. We then included age as a moderator to explore whether the tasks followed similar patterns of enhanced performance with age or if the differences between them, such as the social versus non-social nature of the motion, impacted the development of dynamic visual attention. To account for individual differences, we also controlled for effects of cognitive status (IQ) and performance on a separate, clinically validated measure of attention (CPT-3/KCPT-2). The final multiple regression model was statistically significant: F(1, 38) = 16.57, p < .001, R2 = 0.69, Adjusted R2 = 0.64; although biological motion did not predict MOT while controlling for age, FSIQ, and CPT-3/KCPT-2: b = -0.004, t(38) = -1.09, p = 0.282. Moreover, no interaction was found between biological motion and age: b = 0.0005, t(38) = 1.46, p = 0.152, indicating that the relationship between MOT and biological motion did not differ as a function of age, while controlling for IQ and another measure of attention. Accordingly, the findings provide preliminary evidence that biological motion and MOT attentional abilities improve similarly across age, suggesting similar developmental trajectories for social and non-social attention. Future studies are required to determine if this pattern continues into adulthood and to further clarify the role that social information may play as an agent of developmental change in the masked biological motion task.

Authors

• Emily Stubbert, McGill University
  Presenting Author

• Domenico Tullo

• Adina Gazith, McGill University

• Karen Arias Escobar

• Jocelyn Faubert

• Armando Bertone, Université de Montréal

• Jacob Ari (Jake) Burack, McGill University