Attention to people and toys during social and object mastery in children with Down syndrome.

Attention to people versus objects by children with Down syndrome was examined. Subjects were presented with situations in which the primary focus alternated between an object stimulus (a toy) and a social stimulus (a singing experimenter). The children with Down syndrome monitored their environment in the same manner as did MA-matched typically developing children during object mastery and had a more focused attention style during social mastery. Reasons for this difference in attention across the two situations were discussed.