Attentional Control
Encyclopedia
In cognitive neuroscience
, attentional control refers to individuals' capacity to choose what they pay attention
to and what they ignore. It is also known as endogenous attention or executive
attention. In lay terms, attentional control can be described as an individual's ability to concentrate. Primarily mediated by the frontal areas of the brain including the anterior cingulate cortex
, attentional control is thought to be closely related to other executive functions
such as working memory
.
target. Other research has suggested, however, that even very young infants do have some capacity to exercise control over their allocation of attention, albeit in a much more limited sense.
and anxiety
. Disrupted attentional control has also been reported in infants born preterm, as well as in infants with genetic disorders such as Down syndrome
and Williams syndrome
. Several groups have also reported impaired attentional control early in development in children from lower socioeconomic status
families.
The patterns of disrupted attentional control relate to findings of disrupted performance on executive functions
tasks such as working memory
across a wide number of different disorder groups . The question of why the executive functions
appear to be disrupted across so many different disorder groups remains, however, poorly understood.
approaches view cognitive development as a mosaic
-like process, according to which cognitive faculties develop separately according to genetically predetermined maturational timetables. Prominent authors who take a modular approach to cognitive development include Jerry Fodor
, Elizabeth Spelke
and Steven Pinker
. In contrast, other authors such as Annette Karmiloff-Smith
, Mark Johnson
and Linda Smith have instead advocated taking a more interactive
or dynamical systems approaches to cognitive development. According to these approaches, which are known as neuroconstructivist
approaches, cognitive systems interact over developmental time as certain cognitive faculties are required for the subsequent acquisition of other faculties in other areas.
Amongst authors who take neuroconstructivist
approaches to development, particular importance has been attached to attentional control, since it is thought to be a domain-general process that may influence the subsequent acquisition of other skills in other areas. The ability to regulate and direct attention releases the child from the constraints of only responding to environmental events, and means they are able actively to guide their attention towards the information-rich areas key for learning
. For example, a number of authors have looked at the relationship between an infants' capacity to exercise attentional control and their subsequent performance during language acquisition
.
and effortful control may relate longitudinally to a number of long-term outcomes, such as future earnings, academic success and physical health. For example, a recently published study assessed 1,000 children from birth through to the age of 32 years, and found that self control assessed at an early age could predict a number of later outcomes including substance dependence
, and criminal offending outcomes, even when factors such as socioeconomic status
and family background were controlled for.
The famous marshmallow experiment measuring delay of gratification
assesses childrens' ability to delay eating a marshmallow for a short period of time in exchange for receiving several marshmallows later on. Childrens' performance on this task was found to be predictive of a number of long-term academic and socio-economic outcomes later in life.. The neural mechanisms underlying delay of gratification are thought to overlap with those underlying attentional control and self control - including the medial prefrontal cortex
and anterior cingulate cortex
.
Cognitive neuroscience
Cognitive neuroscience is an academic field concerned with the scientific study of biological substrates underlying cognition, with a specific focus on the neural substrates of mental processes. It addresses the questions of how psychological/cognitive functions are produced by the brain...
, attentional control refers to individuals' capacity to choose what they pay attention
Attention
Attention is the cognitive process of paying attention to one aspect of the environment while ignoring others. Attention is one of the most intensely studied topics within psychology and cognitive neuroscience....
to and what they ignore. It is also known as endogenous attention or executive
Executive functions
The executive system is a theorized cognitive system in psychology that controls and manages other cognitive processes. It is responsible for processes that are sometimes referred to as the executive function, executive functions, supervisory attentional system, or cognitive control...
attention. In lay terms, attentional control can be described as an individual's ability to concentrate. Primarily mediated by the frontal areas of the brain including the anterior cingulate cortex
Anterior cingulate cortex
The anterior cingulate cortex is the frontal part of the cingulate cortex, that resembles a "collar" form around the corpus callosum, the fibrous bundle that relays neural signals between the right and left cerebral hemispheres of the brain...
, attentional control is thought to be closely related to other executive functions
Executive functions
The executive system is a theorized cognitive system in psychology that controls and manages other cognitive processes. It is responsible for processes that are sometimes referred to as the executive function, executive functions, supervisory attentional system, or cognitive control...
such as working memory
Working memory
Working memory has been defined as the system which actively holds information in the mind to do verbal and nonverbal tasks such as reasoning and comprehension, and to make it available for further information processing...
.
During infancy
Early researchers studying the development of the frontal cortex thought that it was functionally silent during the first year of life. Similarly, early research suggested that infants aged one year or younger are completely passive in the allocation of their attention, and have no capacity to choose what they pay attention to and what they ignore. This is shown, for example, in the phenomenon of 'sticky fixation', whereby infants are incapable of disengaging their attention from a particularly salientSalience (neuroscience)
The salience of an item – be it an object, a person, a pixel, etc – is the state or quality by which it stands out relative to its neighbours...
target. Other research has suggested, however, that even very young infants do have some capacity to exercise control over their allocation of attention, albeit in a much more limited sense.
During childhood
As the frontal lobes mature, childrens' capacity to exercise attentional control increases, although attentional control abilities remain much poorer in children than they do in adults. Some children show impaired development of attentional control abilities, thought to arise from the relatively slower development of frontal areas of the brain, which sometimes results in a diagnosis of Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD).Disrupted development of attentional control in abnormal development
Disrupted attentional control have been noted not just in the early development of conditions for which the core deficit is related to attention such as ADHD, but also in conditions such as autismAutism
Autism is a disorder of neural development characterized by impaired social interaction and communication, and by restricted and repetitive behavior. These signs all begin before a child is three years old. Autism affects information processing in the brain by altering how nerve cells and their...
and anxiety
Anxiety disorder
Anxiety disorder is a blanket term covering several different forms of abnormal and pathological fear and anxiety. Conditions now considered anxiety disorders only came under the aegis of psychiatry at the end of the 19th century. Gelder, Mayou & Geddes explains that anxiety disorders are...
. Disrupted attentional control has also been reported in infants born preterm, as well as in infants with genetic disorders such as Down syndrome
Down syndrome
Down syndrome, or Down's syndrome, trisomy 21, is a chromosomal condition caused by the presence of all or part of an extra 21st chromosome. It is named after John Langdon Down, the British physician who described the syndrome in 1866. The condition was clinically described earlier in the 19th...
and Williams syndrome
Williams syndrome
Williams syndrome is a rare neurodevelopmental disorder characterized by a distinctive, "elfin" facial appearance, along with a low nasal bridge; an unusually cheerful demeanor and ease with strangers; developmental delay coupled with strong language skills; and cardiovascular problems, such as...
. Several groups have also reported impaired attentional control early in development in children from lower socioeconomic status
Socioeconomic status
Socioeconomic status is an economic and sociological combined total measure of a person's work experience and of an individual's or family’s economic and social position in relation to others, based on income, education, and occupation...
families.
The patterns of disrupted attentional control relate to findings of disrupted performance on executive functions
Executive functions
The executive system is a theorized cognitive system in psychology that controls and manages other cognitive processes. It is responsible for processes that are sometimes referred to as the executive function, executive functions, supervisory attentional system, or cognitive control...
tasks such as working memory
Working memory
Working memory has been defined as the system which actively holds information in the mind to do verbal and nonverbal tasks such as reasoning and comprehension, and to make it available for further information processing...
across a wide number of different disorder groups . The question of why the executive functions
Executive functions
The executive system is a theorized cognitive system in psychology that controls and manages other cognitive processes. It is responsible for processes that are sometimes referred to as the executive function, executive functions, supervisory attentional system, or cognitive control...
appear to be disrupted across so many different disorder groups remains, however, poorly understood.
Importance of attentional control as a tool for learning
ModularModularity
Modularity is a general systems concept, typically defined as a continuum describing the degree to which a system’s components may be separated and recombined. It refers to both the tightness of coupling between components, and the degree to which the “rules” of the system architecture enable the...
approaches view cognitive development as a mosaic
Mosaic
Mosaic is the art of creating images with an assemblage of small pieces of colored glass, stone, or other materials. It may be a technique of decorative art, an aspect of interior decoration, or of cultural and spiritual significance as in a cathedral...
-like process, according to which cognitive faculties develop separately according to genetically predetermined maturational timetables. Prominent authors who take a modular approach to cognitive development include Jerry Fodor
Jerry Fodor
Jerry Alan Fodor is an American philosopher and cognitive scientist. He holds the position of State of New Jersey Professor of Philosophy at Rutgers University and is the author of many works in the fields of philosophy of mind and cognitive science, in which he has laid the groundwork for the...
, Elizabeth Spelke
Elizabeth Spelke
Elizabeth Shilin Spelke is an American cognitive psychologist at the Department of Psychology of Harvard University and director of the Laboratory for Developmental Studies....
and Steven Pinker
Steven Pinker
Steven Arthur Pinker is a Canadian-American experimental psychologist, cognitive scientist, linguist and popular science author...
. In contrast, other authors such as Annette Karmiloff-Smith
Annette Karmiloff-Smith
Annette Karmiloff-Smith is a professorial research fellow at the Developmental Neurocognition Lab at Birkbeck, University of London. Before moving to Birbeck, she was Head of the Neurocognitive Development Unit at Institute of Child Health, University College, London...
, Mark Johnson
Mark H. Johnson (professor)
Mark Johnson is a British cognitive neuroscientist who since 1997 is head of the Centre for Brain and Cognitive Development at Birkbeck, University of London....
and Linda Smith have instead advocated taking a more interactive
Interactive Specialization
Interactive Specialization is a theory of brain development proposed by the British cognitive neuroscientist Mark Johnson, who is head of the Centre for Brain and Cognitive Development at Birkbeck, University of London, London....
or dynamical systems approaches to cognitive development. According to these approaches, which are known as neuroconstructivist
Neuroconstructivism
In this psychological approach, gene/gene interaction, gene/environment interaction and, crucially, the process of ontogeny are all considered to play a vital role in how the brain progressively sculpts itself and how it gradually becomes specialised over developmental time.Neuroplasticity is...
approaches, cognitive systems interact over developmental time as certain cognitive faculties are required for the subsequent acquisition of other faculties in other areas.
Amongst authors who take neuroconstructivist
Neuroconstructivism
In this psychological approach, gene/gene interaction, gene/environment interaction and, crucially, the process of ontogeny are all considered to play a vital role in how the brain progressively sculpts itself and how it gradually becomes specialised over developmental time.Neuroplasticity is...
approaches to development, particular importance has been attached to attentional control, since it is thought to be a domain-general process that may influence the subsequent acquisition of other skills in other areas. The ability to regulate and direct attention releases the child from the constraints of only responding to environmental events, and means they are able actively to guide their attention towards the information-rich areas key for learning
Learning
Learning is acquiring new or modifying existing knowledge, behaviors, skills, values, or preferences and may involve synthesizing different types of information. The ability to learn is possessed by humans, animals and some machines. Progress over time tends to follow learning curves.Human learning...
. For example, a number of authors have looked at the relationship between an infants' capacity to exercise attentional control and their subsequent performance during language acquisition
Language acquisition
Language acquisition is the process by which humans acquire the capacity to perceive, produce and use words to understand and communicate. This capacity involves the picking up of diverse capacities including syntax, phonetics, and an extensive vocabulary. This language might be vocal as with...
.
Self control, emotional control and delay of gratification
A number of research groups have recently suggested that attentional control and the related concepts of self controlSelf control
Self control is the ability to control one's emotions, behavior and desires in order to obtain some reward later. In psychology it is sometimes called self-regulation...
and effortful control may relate longitudinally to a number of long-term outcomes, such as future earnings, academic success and physical health. For example, a recently published study assessed 1,000 children from birth through to the age of 32 years, and found that self control assessed at an early age could predict a number of later outcomes including substance dependence
Substance dependence
The section about substance dependence in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders does not use the word addiction at all. It explains:...
, and criminal offending outcomes, even when factors such as socioeconomic status
Socioeconomic status
Socioeconomic status is an economic and sociological combined total measure of a person's work experience and of an individual's or family’s economic and social position in relation to others, based on income, education, and occupation...
and family background were controlled for.
The famous marshmallow experiment measuring delay of gratification
Deferred gratification
Deferred gratification and delayed gratification denote a person’s ability to wait in order to obtain something that he or she wants. This intellectual attribute is also called impulse control, will power, self control, and “low” time preference, in economics...
assesses childrens' ability to delay eating a marshmallow for a short period of time in exchange for receiving several marshmallows later on. Childrens' performance on this task was found to be predictive of a number of long-term academic and socio-economic outcomes later in life.. The neural mechanisms underlying delay of gratification are thought to overlap with those underlying attentional control and self control - including the medial prefrontal cortex
Prefrontal cortex
The prefrontal cortex is the anterior part of the frontal lobes of the brain, lying in front of the motor and premotor areas.This brain region has been implicated in planning complex cognitive behaviors, personality expression, decision making and moderating correct social behavior...
and anterior cingulate cortex
Anterior cingulate cortex
The anterior cingulate cortex is the frontal part of the cingulate cortex, that resembles a "collar" form around the corpus callosum, the fibrous bundle that relays neural signals between the right and left cerebral hemispheres of the brain...
.
See also
- AttentionAttentionAttention is the cognitive process of paying attention to one aspect of the environment while ignoring others. Attention is one of the most intensely studied topics within psychology and cognitive neuroscience....
- Delay of GratificationDeferred gratificationDeferred gratification and delayed gratification denote a person’s ability to wait in order to obtain something that he or she wants. This intellectual attribute is also called impulse control, will power, self control, and “low” time preference, in economics...
- Executive functionsExecutive functionsThe executive system is a theorized cognitive system in psychology that controls and manages other cognitive processes. It is responsible for processes that are sometimes referred to as the executive function, executive functions, supervisory attentional system, or cognitive control...
- Frontal LobeFrontal lobeThe frontal lobe is an area in the brain of humans and other mammals, located at the front of each cerebral hemisphere and positioned anterior to the parietal lobe and superior and anterior to the temporal lobes...
- Self controlSelf controlSelf control is the ability to control one's emotions, behavior and desires in order to obtain some reward later. In psychology it is sometimes called self-regulation...