Age differences in peripheral letter perception.

The capacities of 96 eight- and nine-year-old children and 96 adults to discriminate letters in the visual periphery were tested. Four-letter arrays were presented at the fixation point or centered 4 degrees to the left or right. Threshold exposure durations were estimated by a method of ascending limits. Analyses of a transformed threshold measure revealed that although children were less able than adults to discriminate letters in all positions, age differences were greatest for peripherally presented arrays. Development specific to the peripheral visual systems seems implicated.