The Influence of a Visually-Rich Surrounding Environment in Visuospatial Cognitive Performance: A Study with Adolescents

Adolescence is a developmental period characterized by a complex maturation process of various cognitive abilities. Cognitive control, which includes response inhibition and working memory, is one of them. A typical study on response inhibition to visual stimuli presents distractors and targets on the same display (e.g., the computer screen). However, in most daily activities, the potential for distraction exists in the individuals’ surrounding environment. This study proposes an alternative experimental paradigm to investigate whether a high- vs. a low-load visual surrounding environment influences adolescents’ visuospatial performance. Sixty-four adolescents (aged 13–17 years) participated in two experimental sessions (one in a high-load and the other in a low-load visual surrounding environment) in which they responded to four visuospatial cognitive tasks (attention and memory). Overall, the results revealed lower performance when the tasks were performed in the high-load environment (e.g., fewer hits and correct responses, and more false alarms and errors). These results suggest that more attention should be devoted to the potential effect of the external environment in adolescents’ everyday activities. We discuss various areas to which these data might be of relevance and make suggestions for future directions of the proposed procedure.