Selective Sustained Attention, the Visual Environment, and Learning in Kindergarten-age Children: Preliminary Results of an Individual Difference Study

Selective Sustained Attention, the Visual Environment, and Learning in Kindergarten-age Children: Preliminary Results of an Individual Difference Study Karrie E. Godwin (kegodwin@andrew.cmu.edu) Carnegie Mellon University, Department of Psychology, 5000 Forbes Avenue, Pittsburgh, PA 15213 USA Anna V. Fisher (fisher49@andrew.cmu.edu) Carnegie Mellon University, Department of Psychology, 5000 Forbes Avenue, Pittsburgh, PA 15213 USA Abstract targeted activity” (Setliff & Courage, 2011, p. 613). SSA is hypothesized to play a critical role in learning, as attention is believed to be important for general cognitive processes such as encoding (Choudhury & Gorman, 2000). Thus, inattention is presumed to negatively impact learning. However, inferences regarding the relationship between SSA and learning are based largely on children’s performance on procedural tasks (e.g., sorting shapes, Choudhury & Gorman, 2000; performance on visual discrimination tasks, Higgins & Turnure, 1984) rather than learning per se. Collectively, this work has documented that SSA is related to children’s task performance. However, the use of such procedural tasks as an index of learning is problematic as these tasks bear little resemblance to the learning activities that children encounter in the classroom. Other research studies have utilized academic achievement as an indicator of learning (e.g., Checa & Rueda, 2011; Lehman et al., 2010; Schweizer & Moosbrugger, 2004). An association between SSA (indexed by teacher and parent reports, observations, or laboratory measures of attention) and measures of academic achievement have been documented in school-age children, particularly in the domains of math and reading (e.g., see Duncan et al., 2007 for review). To date, available research suggests a persistent relationship between SSA (indexed by time spent on-task) and achievement; however, studies have found that the strength of the correlation fluctuates widely, ranging between 0.13 and 0.71 (for review see Caldwell, Huitt, & Graeber, 1982; Frederick & Walberg, 1980). Inconsistencies in the correlation strength are a potential cause for concern as increasing attention without improving learning outcomes is unsatisfactory. As Snider (1987) stated poignantly, “increased amounts of time on task …are desirable as a means to the end of increased achievement; otherwise, we simply create well-behaved underachievers” (as cited in Reid & Harris, 1993, p.31). Individual differences may provide a potential explanation for the observed variability in the correlation strength across the prior literature. Four individual difference factors posited to modulate the relationship between SSA and learning are: IQ, Processing speed, working memory (WM), and inhibitory control. For instance, children with greater WM capacity may need fewer learning opportunities (i.e., less time on-task) to learn the same amount of material as children with lower WM Prior work has found that selective sustained attention (SSA) is related to young children’s task performance and to various indices of academic achievement (e.g., course grades, standardized test scores). However, experimental research demonstrating a link between learning and SSA is lacking. Additionally, much of the existing work is not able to partial out variance in children’s learning performance due to individual difference factors. This work examines the putative relationship between SSA, measured as the proportion of time spent off-task, and young children’s learning outcomes by yoking measures of time off-task to immediate measures of learning, while controlling for the variance in children’s learning performance due to individual difference factors such as IQ, working memory, processing speed, and inhibitory control. Keywords: Off-Task Behavior; Learning; Attention Introduction Improving children’s learning outcomes is a central goal for both educators and parents. However, improving learning outcomes is a multifaceted issue with a diverse array of factors hypothesized to influence children’s learning progress including: poverty, parental involvement, school based factors such as teacher or district quality, as well as student characteristics (e.g., absenteeism, motivation, aptitude). One factor widely believed to be important to learning is attention. Modulating attention and ignoring extraneous information may be particularly relevant for learning in classroom contexts where children are presented with numerous sources of potential distraction (e.g., peers, displays, announcements). The present study aims to examine the assumed relationship between selective sustained attention (SSA) and young children’s learning outcomes by experimentally inducing lower or higher levels of SSA by introducing or removing visual distractors (e.g., educational displays irrelevant to the learning task) and observing the consequences on children’s learning outcomes. This work also aims to identify individual difference factors that may modulate the effect of SSA on children’s learning outcomes. Selective Sustained Attention and Learning Selective Sustained Attention (SSA) is defined as: “a state of engagement that involves narrowed selectivity and increased commitment of energy and resources on the