title: Sustained selective attention predicts flexible switching in preschoolers.
abstract: Stability and flexibility are fundamental to an intelligent cognitive system. Here, we examined the relationship between stability in selective attention and explicit control of flexible attention. Preschoolers were tested on the Dimension Preference (DP) task, which measures the stability of selective attention to an implicitly primed dimension, and the Dimension Change Card Sort (DCCS) task, which measures flexible attention switching between dimensions. Children who successfully switched on the DCCS task were more likely than those who perseverated to sustain attention to the primed dimension on the DP task across trials. We propose that perseverators have less stable attention and distribute their attention between dimensions, whereas switchers can successfully stabilize attention to individual dimensions and, thus, show more enduring priming effects. Flexible attention may emerge, in part, from implicit processes that stabilize attention even in tasks not requiring switching.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, Indiana University, Bloomington, IN 47405, USA. Electronic address: vbenitez@wisc.edu.
authors.forename: Viridiana L
authors.initials: VL
authors.lastname: Benitez
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, Indiana University, Bloomington, IN 47405, USA.
authors.forename: Catarina
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Vales
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, Indiana University, Bloomington, IN 47405, USA.
authors.forename: Rima
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Hanania
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, Indiana University, Bloomington, IN 47405, USA.
authors.forename: Linda B
authors.initials: LB
authors.lastname: Smith
mesh_terms: D001288:Attention; D002675:Child, Preschool; D003657:Decision Making; D056344:Executive Function; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007196:Indiana; D007360:Intelligence; D008297:Male; D010775:Photic Stimulation
keywords: Attentional flexibility; Dimensional Change Card Sort; Executive function; Priming; Selective attention; Switching