Varieties of Attention in Infancy

Colombo, John; Kapa, Leah L.; Curtindale, Lori M.

doi:10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195366709.003.0001

Cited by 16 publications

(19 citation statements)

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“…Second, a spatial analysis approach would involve a detailed analysis of the spatial units that together, form the object, rather than a holistic analysis of object shape. There is a large body of research indicating that younger infants are more likely to attend to global rather than local components of objects (Colombo, Kapa, & Curtindale, 2010), which is inconsistent with an analysis-of-specific-components hypothesis.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Cortical activation to object shape and speed of motion during the first year

Wilcox¹,

Hawkins²,

Hirshkowitz³

et al. 2014

NeuroImage

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A great deal is known about the functional organization of cortical networks that mediate visual object processing in the adult. The current research is part of a growing effort to identify the functional maturation of these pathways in the developing brain. The current research used near-infrared spectroscopy to investigate functional activation of the infant cortex during the processing of featural information (shape) and spatiotemporal information (speed of motion) during the first year of life. Our investigation focused on two areas that were implicated in previous studies: anterior temporal cortex and posterior parietal cortex. Neuroimaging data were collected with 207 infants across three age groups: 3 to 6 months (Experiment 1), 7 to 8 months (Experiment 2), and 10 to 12 months (Experiments 3 and 4). The neuroimaging data revealed age-related changes in patterns of activation to shape and speed information, mostly involving posterior parietal areas, some of which were predicted and others that were not. We suggest that these changes reflect age-related differences in the perceptual and/or cognitive processes engaged during the task.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Cortical activation to object shape and speed of motion during the first year

Wilcox¹,

Hawkins²,

Hirshkowitz³

et al. 2014

NeuroImage

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“…For example, habituation studies have documented dramatic improvements in processing speed from 2 to 6 months followed EXECUTIVE FUNCTION IN THE FIRST 3 YEARS OF LIFE 31 by gradual levelling off (Colombo, Kapa & Curtindale, 2010;Colombo & Mitchell, 2009) whilst saccadic reaction time studies show a rapid decline in mean reaction time from 2 to 5-6 months, followed by more gradual reductions to 8 months (Canfield et al, 1997). Stability of individual differences in information processing during the first year of life has also been demonstrated (Rose, Feldman & Wallace, 1988;Canfield, Wilken, Schmerl & Smith, 1995).…”

Section: Early Individual Differences In Processing Speed and Their mentioning

confidence: 99%

Executive function in the first three years of life: Precursors, predictors and patterns

Hendry

Jones

Charman

2016

Developmental Review

191

177

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Executive function (EF) underpins the ability to set goals and work towards those goals by co-ordinating thought and action. Its emergence during the first 3 years of life is understudied, largely due to the limitations that early social, motor and language skills place on performance on traditional EF tasks. Nevertheless, across the fields of cognitive psychology, neuroscience, social development and temperament research, evidence is amassing of meaningful precursors and predictors of EF. This review draws together the evidence, highlighting methodological considerations and areas of theoretical debate, and identifies 4 domains critical to the development of EF: control of attention, self-regulation, processing speed and cognitive flexibility. Individual differences within these domains have clinical significance both in terms of the identification of risk markers for later executive dysfunction and for the target or delivery of early intervention to ameliorate this risk. By the end of the third year, typically-developing infants are able to selectively employ impulse control and cognitive flexibility to achieve goal-directed responses to novel situations. KeywordsExecutive function, cognitive development, infancy, regulation, attention, effortful control EXECUTIVE FUNCTION IN THE FIRST 3 YEARS OF LIFE 3 What is Executive Function and Why is it Important?Executive function (EF) can be described as the cognitive toolkit of success. It underpins the ability to set goals and work towards those goals by co-ordinating thought and action, particularly in new situations. The precise nature of the 'tools' in the 'kit' is a matter of considerable debate, but they are largely considered to be higher-order self-regulatory processes, including the control of attention and motor responses, resistance to interference, and delay of gratification (Carlson, Mandell & Williams, 2004;Diamond, 2013;Jurado & Rosselli, 2007), or, as Barkley puts it "those self-directed actions needed to choose goals and to create, enact, and sustain actions toward those goals" (Barkley, 2012, p. 60).From its emergence in very early childhood through to its decline in late adulthood, EF supports and constrains an individual's ability to learn and thrive across their lifespan (Diamond, 2013). Not only does early EF have strong links to children's later social and academic functioning (Blair & Peters Razza, 2007; Eisenberg et al., 2009) but difficulties with some EFs are implicated in a range of disorders including Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) and Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) (Barkley, 1997;Ozonoff, Pennington & Rogers, 1991;Rommelse, Geurts, Franke, Buitelaar & Hartman, 2011). However, currently executive dysfunction is primarily detected during a child's school years. By developing our understanding of the developmental pathway(s) involved in EF we may be able to monitor and intervene in cases where emergent EF is delayed or disrupted, whilst the brain is most responsive to treatment (Johnson, 2012;Wass, 2015). Goals and ...

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“…Cognitively, the attention orienting network is the earliest activated attention network that establishes connectivity with the later developing executive attention network understood to underlie IC (Posner & Rothbart, ). This executive attention system emerges at the end of the first year of life and is more volitional in nature than is early orienting (Colombo, Kapa, & Curtindale, ). As infants develop more control over attentional processes across the first year of life, they are more capable of appropriately deploying their attention; conversely, infants who are unable to disengage from a frustrating stimulus display both biological and behavioural markers of dysregulation, such as electroencephalogram asymmetry and negative affect (Swingler et al, ) and susceptibility to distress (Rothbart, Ziaie, & O'Boyle, ).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Does maternal warmth moderate longitudinal associations between infant attention control and children's inhibitory control?

Cioffi

Leve

Natsuaki

et al. 2019

Infant and Child Development

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Attention control (AC) is thought to play an important role in the development of inhibitory control (IC) in children, yet there are few longitudinal studies of this association. This study used a prospective parent–child adoption design (N = 361 children) to examine whether maternal warmth at child age 27 months moderated the link between AC during infancy and IC during childhood. Tobit regression analyses indicated that low levels of infant AC at 9 months predicted low levels of IC at 6 years, controlling for birth parent IC, prenatal risk, infant distress to limitations, child sex, and openness of adoption. Adoptive mother warmth at 27 months moderated this association. In the context of higher levels of maternal warmth, the longitudinal association between low AC and low IC was attenuated. Thus, high levels of early maternal warmth may help diminish the effects of extant risk for IC deficits. Highlights The study examined associations between infant attention control, maternal warmth, and children's inhibitory control. Using a parent–child adoption design, we found that maternal warmth moderated the association between infant attention control and school‐age inhibitory control. Children with early risk for inhibitory control deficits may benefit from parental involvement in interventions that facilitate high maternal warmth during toddlerhood.

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Varieties of Attention in Infancy

Cited by 16 publications

References 0 publications

Cortical activation to object shape and speed of motion during the first year

Cortical activation to object shape and speed of motion during the first year

Executive function in the first three years of life: Precursors, predictors and patterns

Does maternal warmth moderate longitudinal associations between infant attention control and children's inhibitory control?

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