Developmental changes in visual search are determined by changing visuospatial abilities and task repetition: A longitudinal study in adolescents.

Using a longitudinal study design, a group of 94 adolescents participated in a visual search task and a visuospatial ability task yearly for four consecutive years. We analyzed the association between changes in visuospatial ability and changes in visual search performance and behavior and estimated additional effects of age and task repetition. Visuospatial ability was measured with the Design Organization Test (DOT).

Visual search accelerates during adolescence.

We studied changes in visual-search performance and behavior during adolescence. Search performance was analyzed in terms of reaction time and response accuracy. Search behavior was analyzed in terms of the objects fixated and the duration of these fixations.

Performance on tasks of visuospatial memory and ability: A cross-sectional study in 330 adolescents aged 11 to 20.

Cognitive functions mature at different points in time between birth and adulthood. Of these functions, visuospatial skills, such as spatial memory and part-to-whole organization, have often been tested in children and adults but have been less frequently evaluated during adolescence. We studied visuospatial memory and ability during this critical developmental period, as well as the correlation between these abilities, in a large group of 330 participants (aged 11 to 20 years, 55% male).

A Quick Assessment of Visuospatial Abilities in Adolescents Using the Design Organization Test (DOT).

Tests measuring visuospatial abilities have shown that these abilities increase during adolescence. Unfortunately, the Block Design test and other such tests are complicated and time-consuming to administer, making them unsuitable for use with large groups of restless adolescents. The results of the Design Organization Test (DOT), a quick pen-and-paper test, have been shown to correlate with those of the Block Design test.