Distractor interference in selective reaching: A developmental study

This study examined the effects of visual distractors on reaching performance in 7, 9 and 13 year-old children. The task was to reach for a green target appearing either with or without a red distractor stimulus on a computer screen. Results showed that the presence of a distractor lengthened movement times in all age groups, but, importantly, this movement time interference effect decreased with increasing age. This finding is interpreted as reflecting maturational changes in the (pre)frontal cortex and concomitant improvements in inhibitory control.