Task persistence is related to attentional regulation and is needed for the successful transition to school. Understanding preschoolers' task persistence with caregivers could better inform the development and prevention of attention problems across this transition. Preschoolers' real-time task persistence profiles during problem-solving tasks…

Since subthreshold autistic social impairments aggregate in family members, and since attentional dysfunctions appear to be one of the earliest cognitive markers of children with autism, we investigated in the general population the relationship between infants' attentional functioning and the autistic traits measured in their parents.…

The problem of how best to capture, direct, and enhance children's abilities to pay attention has been a central feature of educational thought and practices over a long duration. And, while having students pay attention in class has been a concern of teachers across the ages, beginning in the Enlightenment we find a significant shift in…

The capability of young high ability children to cope with extraneous distractive stimuli during performance on a two-choice discrimination task was investigated. Results indicate that existing interpretations of the development of attentive abilities in children based on the notion of an increasing attention span are in need of elaboration or…

Applying optimal stimulation theory, the present study explored the development of sustained attention as a dynamic process. It examined the interaction of modality and temperament over time in children and adults. Second-grade children and college-aged adults performed auditory and visual vigilance tasks. Using the Carey temperament…

RESEARCH LITERATURE ON ATTENTION WAS REVIEWED, APPROACHES TO THE MEASUREMENT OF ATTENTION IN A CLASSROOM SETTING WERE STUDIED, AND CLASSROOM EXPERIMENTS IN WHICH ATTENTION WOULD BE STUDIED AS A DEPENDENT OR INDEPENDENT VARIABLE WERE DESIGNED. THE RESEARCH LITERATURE INDICATES THAT NOVELTY, VARIETY, CHANGE, AND COMPLEXITY ARE VARIABLES RELATED TO…

A qualitative study determined which factors in the museum exhibit environment or within the museum visitor may influence the visitor to attend an exhibit. Observations and interviews were conducted of 14 groups that visited a Chesapeake & Ohio steam locomotive at the Henry Ford Museum in Dearborn, Michigan. An inductive or grounded theory…

Examined age-related changes in visual selective attention--ability to resist interference--in children 5 to 12 years old and adults. The interference effect on stimulus evaluation did not discriminate between age groups; however, the interference effect on correct response activation showed a pronounced age-related reduction, suggesting a…

A study was conducted to investigate further the dichotic outcomes in right-handers as a function of sex, ear-side, and most especially stronger attentional bias. The derived prediction was: that increased focus time on the right side would produce a striking right ear advantage (REA) in either right-handed men or women, replicating the most…

Recent research has substantiated long-standing beliefs of classroom teachers about the relationship between pupil engagement and achievement; one of these is that increased pupil involvement or attention to the learning task increases learning. Additionally, consistent teaching behaviors and classroom variables are frequently associated with…

Examined visual fixation in infants 6 months to 2 years old for fit with theory of attentional inertia. Found that fixations had lognormal distribution, heart rate decreased during a look, and heart rate returned to prestimulus levels immediately before look offset. Older children showed different looking patterns to two types of stimuli; younger…

Hagen's central-incidental learning task, the Intellectual Achievement Responsibility Questionnaire (IAR), and the Nowicki-Strickland Scale (N-S) locus of control measures were used to examine selective attention and locus of control--two variables associated with motivation and learning--with 56 normal and learning disabled junior and senior high…

General intelligence may set structural feature limitations on three aspects of selective attention: direction, adjustability, and breadth. Data, theory, and methods bearing on this hypothesis were reviewed from the domain of visual discrimination learning. (Author/BW)

The attending development module of the Early Education-Special Education Teacher Preparation Program at the University of Virginia deals with various aspects of attention in young children. Areas covered include: (1) developmental aspects of attention; (2) gaining and maintaining attention; (3) motivation and attention; (4) cognitive styles and…