Flanker study finds distance-dependent attention differences in deaf and hard of hearing children

Deaf and hard of hearing children suppressed visual distractors about as well as typically hearing children overall, but the groups differed in how interference changed with the distance between a target and a competing stimulus. In a study of 42 deaf and hard of hearing children and 180 typically hearing children aged 6 to 13, researchers found a hearing-condition-by-distance interaction in response time: at the nearest target–flanker separation, typically hearing children showed a greater interference effect than deaf and hard of hearing children. The study, published in Current Psychology in 2026, was an experimental comparison of executive attention rather than a longitudinal study of its development.

Participants completed a flanker task in which a target appeared with another stimulus, while researchers manipulated the target–flanker distance. Interference effects were evaluated separately for accuracy and response time as differences in performance between incongruent and congruent trials. The analysis found no significant difference between deaf and hard of hearing children and typically hearing children in the overall interference effect for either measure. The findings therefore indicate comparable overall interference suppression under the tested conditions, while also showing that this aggregate similarity concealed a distance-dependent difference in response time.

The principal group difference appeared at the closest spatial separation. There, the difference in performance between incongruent and congruent trials was greater among typically hearing children than among deaf and hard of hearing children. The supplied study abstract does not establish that the groups differed in the same direction at every tested distance or provide the complete pattern across all separations. It also reports the finding in response time, not accuracy, so the result should not be presented as a general advantage in performance across tasks or measures.

Age was related to interference differently across distance conditions in the typically hearing group, whereas no corresponding age-related pattern was found among deaf and hard of hearing children. These associations suggest that executive attention may develop differently during childhood in the two groups, but the study does not establish hearing status as the cause. The comparison also does not show how long each child had experienced auditory deprivation, and the available evidence does not identify the mechanisms behind the observed differences. With 42 deaf and hard of hearing participants, the group was smaller than the 180 typically hearing participants, limiting how broadly the results can be generalized. Overall, the study provides evidence of a specific spatial pattern in response-time interference, alongside similar overall interference suppression in the two groups.

Subject of Research: Executive attention and spatial distractor interference in deaf and hard of hearing children

Article Title: Changes in spatial allocation of executive attention in deaf and hard of hearing children

Article References: Gioiosa Maurno, N., Phillips-Silver, J., & Daza González, M. T. (2026). Changes in spatial allocation of executive attention in deaf and hard of hearing children. Current Psychology, 45(21), Article 1643. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12144-026-10192-8

Image Credits: AI Generated

DOI: 10.1007/s12144-026-10192-8

Keywords: deaf children, hard of hearing children, executive attention, spatial attention, distractor interference, flanker task, child development, response time, auditory deprivation, Changes, spatial, allocation