Abstract
Attention underlies and energizes all cognitive and behavioral activities. Many studies showed that the quality of child attachment (both to parental and non parental figures) influences cognitive functions and attention. This study aimed to investigate the relationships among attachment to preschool teachers and attention in a sample of preschoolers. In particular, the study analyzed whether child attachment security to preschool teachers influences the different aspects of their attention skills. In addition, gender- and age-related differences in attention and teacher attachment were explored. Research was conducted using two standardized instruments: the Attention and Concentration Battery, and the Attachment Q Sort. Participants were 279 children (147 male, 132 female) who attended two preschools in a town in Southern Italy. Descriptive analyses, t-tests analyses, and correlation and regression analyses were carried out. Findings highlighted several interesting points concerning the relationships that occur among attachment to preschool teachers and attention. Children with secure attachments presented higher reaction time and better auditory, visual, and visual spatial selectivity and maintenance.
Highlights
Attention underlies and energizes all cognitive and behavioral activities
The present study highlights several interesting points concerning the relationships that occur among attachment to preschool teachers and attention
With regard to the principal aim of this research, the findings showed that child/preschool teacher attachment is related to attentional performance
Summary
Attention underlies and energizes all cognitive and behavioral activities. Many studies showed that the quality of child attachment (both to parental and non parental figures) influences cognitive functions and attention. The study analyzed whether child attachment security to preschool teachers influences the different aspects of their attention skills. Cognition is the information-handling aspect of behaviour It comprises four classes of processes, “receptive functions”, “learning and memory”, “thinking” and “expressive functions” that are the common background of all complex performances (Lezak 1995). Attention permits to detect the appearance of the environmental stimuli, and influences the capacity to highlight a stimulus while suppressing awareness of competing distractions (Johnston and Dark 1986; Russell 1975) It determines how much information can be grasped and maintained at the same time (Douglas 1979; Howieson and Lezak 1994), and the capacity to respond to more to than one task at a time or to multiple elements or operation within a task as in a complex mental task (Sohlberg and Mateer 1989; Stuus et al 1989). Other studies analysed the relationships between the quality of the child bond with their caregivers and attention functioning and explored the influence of child/caregiver attachment on attentional performances (Davis, Bruce, and Gunnar, 2002; Lupien and McEwen, 1997; Skosnik et al 2000; Wolkowitz et al 1990; Wolkowitz et al 1993)
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