THE DEVELOPMENT OF SELECTIVE ATTENTION

The revival of research on attention in cognitive psychology leads to take up the problem of development of attention, especially searching selective attention of children. The aim of the presented study was to answer the question how selective attention develops in 8 to 13 years old children. In pilot study we observed clear developmental changes up to 10 years of age, but there were no changes between results of 10 and 12 year olds. Significant differences between boys and girls were revealed. This suggested the confirmation of so called 'hunter's hypothesis'. We used modified version of Two Cross Out Test constructed by Zazzo (1974). It was found that selective attention develops intensively till 10 years of age and that lack of significant differences between groups of older children is connected with development of cognitive control. The obtained results suggest how to plan further research on selective attention of children.