Saccadic eye movements of children and adults to double-step stimuli.

Investigated the programming and reprogramming of oculomotor responses to double-step and single-step targets in Exp I with 5 college students, 5 5–6 yr olds, and 7 8–10 yr olds. Independent variables were intertarget interval (50, 100, 150, and 200 msec) and target location. The number of trials on which a saccade was made to both 1st and 2nd targets increased with age and intertarget interval, but the 2 factors did not interact. On trials where responses were made only to the 2nd target, children responded slower than adults but showed generally similar patterns of response latencies. In Exp II, a warning signal was presented 0, 100, or 300 msec prior to the 1st target. For 18 college students, the 100- and 300-msec warning intervals reduced the latency of single-step responses and the 1st saccade of double-step responses, whereas only the 300-msec warning interval was similarly effective with 15 children. All Ss exhibited amplitude transition functions, indicating that the modifiability of saccadic programming is basically similar for adults and children. A comparison of simultaneous programming characteristics suggested possible age differences. (17 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)