The organization of attention in typical development: A new preschool attention test battery

Abstract

This article introduces a new battery of attention tests for typically developing and atypically developing children with a mental age of 3-6 years. In the light of adult and child studies supporting a model of distinct networks for specific attentional operations, tests in the current battery were selected with the aim of measuring functions of selective attention, sustained attention and attentional control (executive function). Normative data were collected from 154 typically developing children aged 3-6 years and examined using exploratory factor analysis to determine latent constructs underlying test performance. This analysis suggested increasing differentiation of attention functions over the age range, with support for the hypothesized three-factor model only after 4½ years of age. Additional analyses supported the validity of the new attention battery with respect to (1) parent/teacher report measures of everyday attention behaviour and (2) later performance on the Test of Everyday Attention for Children (TEA-Ch), a battery designed for children aged 6-16 years. The results show the developing differentiation of attention functions and support the ecological and predictive validity of the battery as providing early performance-based measures of attention and an attention 'profile' for each individual child, which may aid characterization and remediation of neurodevelopmental disorders.

Cognitive training as a resolution for early executive function difficulties in children with intellectual disabilities

“…These findings indicate that interventions such as cognitive training need to be guided by research in order to ensure they are tailored to the individual needs of those with ID. For instance recent work into the development of attention in young TD children (3 to 4.5 years) has demonstrated that a two factor model of attention (sustained attention & selection and response) is more appropriate at this early stage in development (Breckenridge, Braddick & Atkinson, 2013b). This is particularly relevant for children with ID, whose cognitive functions are likely to be more in line with younger TD children than their chronologically age matched peers.…”

Attentional Factors Involved in Learning in the First Grade

“…The internal reliability for each factor was estimated with Cronbach's Alpha coefficient. The tests included in the factor analysis were selected from theoretical premises from the most recent studies on this topic [57,59].…”

“…Manly et al [58] also suggested a three-factor model of sustained and selective attention and a higher-level "executive" attention, even in 6-to 16-yearold children. In younger children (under 4 years) [59] a two-factor model seemed to best capture attentional constructs. A two-factor model in younger children (3-to 6-year-olds) was also confirmed by Steele et al [57].…”

“…Previous studies [58,3] reveal that with development, the attentional network specialises with a greater division between the factors. Attention processes, like other cognitive skills, may have a simpler factor structure earlier in childhood and become increasingly specialised with age, with sustained and selective attention being closely related in early childhood but further subdividing in later childhood [59,57]. Foundational components of attention, like inhibition, active attention, and shifting emerge during the first few years of life but continue to strengthen significantly throughout childhood and adolescence [88].…”

Latent Dimensions of Executive Functions in Early Childhood

“…Factor analytic studies have found attention to be a distinct factor among EF measures and to have a different developmental course then other EF abilities (Klenberg et al 2001). There is also evidence for differentiated components within a specific attention factor (Breckenridge et al 2013). Supporting the role of attention are studies demonstrating improvements in sustained attention between the ages of 3 and 5 that correspond to changes in EF (Corkum et al 1995;Mahone et al 2001).…”