ERIC Number: EJ957624
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2004-Mar
Pages: 14
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-1525-0008
EISSN: N/A
Attentional Engagement in Infancy: The Interactive Influence of Attentional Inertia and Attentional State
Oakes, Lisa M.; Ross-Sheehy, Shannon; Kannass, Kathleen N.
Infancy, v5 n2 p239-252 Mar 2004
We evaluated the interactive influences of attentional state and attentional inertia on infants' level of attentional engagement. We assessed infants' distraction latencies longitudinally at 6.5 and 9 months as they explored toys, and we coded both their attentional state (focused vs. casual) and how long they had been looking at the toy at each distractor onset. Consistent with previous results, both attentional state and attentional inertia contributed to differences in distraction latency. Importantly, the level of attentional engagement was interactively determined by attentional state and attentional inertia. Infants were most resistant to distraction when they were judged to be in a state of focused attention following relatively long looks to the toy, and they were equivalently less resistant to distraction under all other conditions. These results are consistent with a general conceptualization of attentional engagement resulting from the interaction of multiple processes. (Contains 3 tables and 1 figure.)
Descriptors: Infants, Attention, Influences, Child Behavior, Eye Movements, Resistance (Psychology), Longitudinal Studies
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Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: N/A
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A