Attention and Cognitive Development

1 Attention: The Perceiver as Performer.- Some Examples of Attending.- What Is Attention?.- What Attention Is Not.- Restatement of the Theme.- Classic Variables of Attention.- Expectation.- How Does Attention Develop?.- Specificity.- Flexibility.- Preparedness.- Economy.- Conclusion.- References.- 2 The Concept of Identity and Children's Selective Attention.- The Task.- Extent of Visual Scanning.- Do Young Children Scan Only Part of the Stimuli?.- What Factors Affect the Extent of Ocular Scanning?.- Can Insufficient Scanning Explain Poor Performance in Differentiation Tasks?.- Relevance of Perceived Differences to Judgments of Identity.- Criteria of Identity Judgments and Scanning Strategies.- Conclusion.- References.- 3 Development of Children's Attention to Stimulus Components.- The Component Selection Task.- Development of Children's Disposition toward Selectivity.- Age Trends in Component Selection.- Overtraining Effects.- Stimulus Integration and Integrality.- Development of Flexibility in Attention to Components.- Variation in Task Structure.- Instructional Effects.- Manipulation of Component Salience.- Related Literature.- General Conclusions on Development of Flexibility.- A Further Issue in Measuring Attention to Components: Dimension Preferences.- Concluding Remarks.- References.- 4 A Constructivist Account of the Development of Perception, Attention, and Memory.- The Thesis.- Nonconscious versus Conscious Perception.- Two Qualitative Transitions of Development: From Nonconscious to Focal Processing.- Empirical and Theoretical Underpinnings.- Motor Efference as the Key to the Conscious Experience of Perception.- Accommodative Imitation as the Key to Efference.- A General, Unified Cognitive System?.- Concluding Remarks.- References.- 5 Stimulus Dimensions, Problem Solving, and Piaget.- Developmental Relationships between Conservation and Attention to Dimensions.- Piaget's Model of Conservation.- An Attentional Interpretation of Piaget's Model.- The Role of Attention to Quantity.- How Attention to Dimensions Affects Conservation Performance.- Implications for an Understanding of the Development of Dimensionalization.- Levels of Dimensionalization.- Relationships between Dimensions.- Dimensionalization of Changing Stimuli.- Implications for Research on Dimensionalization.- Summary.- References.- 6 Developmental Aspects of Selective Orientation.- From Selective Orienting to Mental Representation.- Orienting Asymmetry and the Development of Handedness.- Effect of Rightward Response Bias on Lateral Attending.- Task-Related Attentional Biases.- References.- 7 Attentional Processes and Individual Differences.- A Review of Models of Attention and Memory.- Sokolov.- Lewis.- McCall.- Cohen,.- Jeffrey.- Olson.- Fagan.- Individual Differences in Information Processing.- Developmental Variation.- Individual Variation in Habituation.- Clinical Applications of Individual Differences in Habituation.- Conclusion.- References.- 8 Toward a Clearer Definition of the Attentional Deficit of Hyperactive Children.- Confusion Caused by Current Diagnostic Labels.- Description of Samples Used in the McGill Studies.- Confusion Caused by Definitions of Attention.- Selective Attention as Defined in Studies of Stimulus Reduction, Distraction, and Incidental Learning.- Stimulus Reduction Studies with Hyperactive Children.- Studies of Distractibility with Hyperactive Children.- Studies of Distractibility with Learning-Disabled Children.- Summary and Critique of Distractibility Studies with Hyperactive and Learning-Disabled Children.- Incidental Learning Studies with Hyperactive Children.- Incidental Learning Studies with Learning-Disabled Children.- Summary and Critique of Incidental Learning Studies with Hyperactive and Learning-Disabled Children.- Sustained Attention as Defined in Vigilance Studies.- Vigilance Studies with Hyperactive Children.- Vigilance Studies with Learning-Disabled Children.- Studies with Hyperactives on Reaction Time Tasks Making Less Stringent Demands on Sustained Attention.- Psychophysiological Concomitants of Vigilance Task Performance in Hyperactive Children.- The Effects of Stimulant Drugs on Vigilance Task Performance of Hyperactive Children.- The Effects of Reinforcement on Vigilance Task Performance of Hyperactive Children.- Summary and Critique of Vigilance Studies with Hyperactive and Learning-Disabled Children.- Sustained Attention as Defined in Studies of More Complex Perceptual and Conceptual Processes: A Brief Review.- Studies with Hyperactives Using Tasks Requiring Perceptual and Logical Search Strategies.- Arousal and Performance on More Complex Problem-Solving Tasks.- Higher Order Schemata, Search Strategies, and Meta Processes.- Summary and Critique: An Attempt to Conceptualize the Development and Consequences of Attentional Problems in Hyperactive and Learning-Disabled Children.- References.- 9 The Cognitive Effects of Stimulant Drugs on Hyperactive Children.- Definition of the Disorder.- The Clinical Population.- Magnitude of the Problem.- Background Information on Drug Treatment.- Evaluation of Diagnostic Drug Trials.- Subjective Evaluation of Response to Questionnaire.- Laboratory Tests.- Experiments Using Paired-Associate Learning.- Other Laboratory Tests.- Tasks That Overdiagnose Stimulant Responsivity.- Tasks with Complex Response Patterns.- Problems with Drug Treatment.- Directions for Future Research.- References.- 10 Attention and Cognitive Style in Children.- The Confounding of Cognitive Style and Development.- Attention and Cognitive Style: A Developmental Lag Approach.- Style: Individual Differences in Attention Deployment.- Data in Support of Individual Differences in Attention Deployment.- Attention Deployment and Task Demands.- Breadth of Attention and Cognitive Style.- Attention and Cognitive Style: The Developmental Lag Interpretation Reevaluated.- Cognitive Styles: Separate but Unequal?.- An Effort Dimension of Cognitive Style.- A Word of Caution.- References.- 11 Attention in the Classroom.- Commonsense Ideas of Attention.- Components of Attention.- Alertness.- Maintaining Alertness in the Classroom.- Selectivity.- External Sources of Influence on Selectivity.- Internal Influences on Selectivity.- Developmental and Individual Differences in Selective Attention.- Central Processing.- Automaticity.- Monitoring and Fostering Attention in the Classroom.- Visual Measures of Attentiveness.- Verbal Measures of Attentiveness.- Special Problems of Attention.- Summary.- References.- 12 Watching Children Watch Television.- When Children Begin to Watch Television.- Amount of Television Viewing.- Factors Related to Amount of Home Viewing.- Visual Attention to Television.- Distractors.- Characteristics of the Child That Affect Attention to Television.- A General Pattern of Attention to Television.- Attributes of Television Programs That Influence Visual Attention.- A New Attribute Analysis.- Discussion of the Attribute Effects.- Meaningful Units.- Camera Techniques.- Adult Males.- Women.- Children.- Other Characters.- Visual Techniques.- Activity.- Music.- Other Sound Attributes.- Summary of Attribute Effects.- Auditory Attention to Television.- A Possible Theoretical Direction for Future Research on Attention to Television.- Final Comments.- References.