Attention is a complex and multidimensional construct. It depends on distributed neural networks; it is linked to multiple sources of information from the environment and to complex motor, emotional, and motivational systems. Taking this functional approach, this book focuses on visual attention and its underlying processes in the first four to five years of life. The book is organized around two overlapping structures. One is the division of attention into three conceptual domains: selectivity, state, and executive- or higher-level control. The second organizational structure revolves around ... More

Attention is a complex and multidimensional construct. It depends on distributed neural networks; it is linked to multiple sources of information from the environment and to complex motor, emotional, and motivational systems. Taking this functional approach, this book focuses on visual attention and its underlying processes in the first four to five years of life. The book is organized around two overlapping structures. One is the division of attention into three conceptual domains: selectivity, state, and executive- or higher-level control. The second organizational structure revolves around the development of two attention systems during the early years: the first is an orienting/investigative system; and the second is a more voluntary system related to inhibitory processes, planning, goal-oriented activity, and to the larger construct of self-regulation. Within these two structures, the book discusses the research and theory relevant to the development of selection, modulation of intensity or state, and the higher-level control of attention. It also discusses individual variation in these three aspects of attention. It includes individual differences in patterns of attention and underlying temperamental factors, and differences in developmental trajectory. It also address deviations from the normal range of attention and possible developmental scenarios to account for them. For both development and individual differences, the book covers the research on behavioural and psycho-physiological indices of attention. In addition, the book makes inferences from the research in order to discuss the non-observable processes underlying these indices.