Children (ages 5, 7, and 9 years) and young adults completed two visual attention tasks that required them to make a forced choice identification response to a target shape presented in the center of a computer screen. In the first task (high correlation condition) each target was flanked with the same distracters on 80% of the trials (valid flanker), with the other flanker on 10% of the trials (invalid flanker) and alone on 10% of the trials. In the second task (low correlation condition), targets were paired with valid flankers on 48% of trials, invalid flankers on 40% of trials, and alone on 12% of trials. Degree of attention focus was varied by presenting a fixation point at the target location on 50% of the trials, and target flanker similarity was also varied. Reaction times and accuracy were measured in various conditions to assess the degree of learning associated with high probability stimulus pairings, and the extent to which the learning would transfer to the subsequent low correlation condition. Results suggest that children are more likely to focus attention with a fixation point than without, and may be less likely to mediate their response times with increasing task difficulty. Results are explained with reference to attention control deficit hypotheses related to cognitive development.