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Attention and executive functioning in infancy: Links to childhood executive function and reading achievement

Tashauna L Blankenship1, Madeline A Slough2, Susan D Calkins3

  • 1Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, Boston University, Boston, Massachusetts.

Developmental Science
|March 5, 2019
PubMed

Insights

Early infant attention and developing executive functioning (EF) predict later reading success. These cognitive skills, tracked from infancy through childhood, are key targets for reading interventions.

Area of Science:

  • Developmental Psychology
  • Cognitive Neuroscience
  • Educational Psychology

Background:

  • Individual differences in infant attention are recognized as potential early indicators of cognitive development.
  • Executive functioning (EF) is crucial for complex cognitive tasks, including reading acquisition.
  • The developmental trajectory of EF from infancy to early childhood and its link to reading is not fully understood.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate the relationship between infant attention and later reading achievement.
  • To examine the mediating role of executive functioning (EF) development in this relationship.
  • To identify early cognitive predictors for reading interventions.

Main Methods:

  • Longitudinal study tracking 157 infants from 5 months to 6 years.
  • Infant attention assessed via video coding of visual attention at 5 months.
  • Executive functioning (EF) measured using age-appropriate tasks at 10 months, 3, 4, and 6 years.
  • Reading achievement and verbal intelligence (IQ) assessed at 6 years.

Main Results:

  • Infant attention at 5 months directly predicted EF at 10 months.
  • EF demonstrated continuous development from 10 months to 6 years.
  • EF and verbal IQ at 6 years directly predicted reading achievement.
  • EF mediated the link between early infant attention and later reading outcomes.

Conclusions:

  • Early infant attention is a significant predictor of later reading achievement, mediated by the development of executive functioning (EF).
  • Findings suggest that interventions targeting attention and EF in infancy and early childhood may enhance reading outcomes.
  • This research highlights the importance of early cognitive development for academic success.

Keywords:
attentionearly childhoodexecutive functioninfancyreading achievement

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