Some studies suggest the existence of distinct maturation moments of the attentional system. This study investigated the selection patterns of visual information through a perceptual load task performed by three age groups: children, adults and elderly people. In general, the obtained results indicate a decrease of the efficiency in the process of information selection under low perceptual load in the group of elderly people, and a decrease of the selection efficiency under conditions of high and low perceptual load in the group composed by children. The results suggest the existence of specific patterns in the selection of visual information in relation to age and the perceptual load to be processed by the visual system.
visual attention; perceptual load; age differences
