Development of visual attention control in early childhood: Associations with temperament and home environment

Abstract

Endogenous visual attention orienting is early available from infancy. It shows a steady development during the preschool period towards monitoring and managing executive attention to optimize the interplay between environmental contingencies and internal goals. The current study aims at understanding this transition from basic forms of endogenous control of visual orienting towards the engagement of executive attention, as well as their association with individual differences in temperament and home environment. A total of 150 children between 2 and 4 years of age were evaluated in a Visual Sequence Learning task, measuring visual anticipations in easy (context-free) and complex (context-dependent) stimuli transitions. Results showed age to be a predictor of a reduction in exogenous attention, as well as increased abilities to attempt to anticipate and to correctly anticipate in complex transitions. Home chaos predicted more complex correct anticipations, suggesting that the exposure to more unpredictable environments could benefit learning in context-dependent settings. Finally, temperamental surgency was found to be positively related to sustained attention in the task. Results are informative of age differences in visual attention control during toddlerhood and early childhood, and their association with temperament and home environment.

Keywords: endogenous attention; executive attention; home chaos; monitoring; preschool; temperament; toddlerhood.

Figure 1

Task procedure of a complete sequence (1-2-1-3) following Clohessy et al. (2001). (A) Stimulus are presented in the figure in large size, although a transition through different sizes was employed to create a looming effect. Stimulus presentation (1800 ms) and anticipatory period (1000 ms) durations were fixed in the sequence. Complex (from Position 1-to Position 2 and Position 1-to Position 3) and easy transitions (Position 2-to Position 1, Position 3-to Position 1) can be found in the figure. (B) Visualization of the definition of reactive (stimulus presentation) and anticipatory periods (blank screen). Cartoons by GraphicMama-team from Pixabay.

Figure 2

Stimulus fixations, reactive looks and correct anticipations for easy and complex trials. Scores are presented for each age group in the first (T1) and follow-up (T2) sessions. The 4-year-old group was only evaluated in the first session and not followed over time.

Figure 3

Proportion of easy and complex correct anticipations. Scores are displayed for each age group in the first (T1) and follow-up (T2) session. The 4-year-old group was only evaluated in the first session and not followed over time.