Attentional Performance, Age and Scholastic Achievement in Healthy Children

Mireille Trautmann,Florian Daniel Zepf,Kevin Paterson

doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0032279

Abstract

BackgroundAttentional processes in children play a critical role in daily school demands and accomplishments. Studies on the association of attentional processes with school achievement and age in healthy school children are scarce. The aim of the present study was to identify correlations between dimensions of attentional performance, scholastic achievement and age.Methodology/Principal FindingsAn extensive testing battery was used to assess a wide range of attentional dimensions. A principal component analysis revealed three factors that are related to attentional performance (distractibility, lapses of attention, cognitive speed). Age was negatively associated with distractibility, lapses of attention and cognitive speed, indicating that distractibility and lapses of attention decreased with age in healthy children and resulted in lower cognitive speed.Conclusions/SignificanceAttentional processes in healthy children should be measured in relation to distractibility, lapses of attention and cognitive speed.

Highlights

Attentional processes are the foundation for a variety of cognitive functions, such as perception, learning, the integration of information to establish working memory processes, and the active recall and integration of information [1,2]
The main results of this study are that the independent attentional dimensions, cognitive speed, distractibility, and lapses of attention, decreased with age
The data were indicative of improved attentional performance with increasing age and an associated development of resistance to distractibility, fewer lapses of attention, and a reduction in cognitive speed

Summary

Introduction

Attentional processes are the foundation for a variety of cognitive functions, such as perception, learning, the integration of information to establish working memory processes, and the active recall and integration of information [1,2]. Attentional processes are important for daily intellectual performance, and they are essential for the acquisition of competencies, such as reading, spelling, and calculating [3,4,5,6,7]. These processes allow to focus memory during the encoding and recall of information and integrate memory content into one schema [8]. For these reasons, attentional processes are indispensable for scholastic achievement. The aim of the present study was to identify correlations between dimensions of attentional performance, scholastic achievement and age

Objectives

Results

Conclusion