The Effects of Socio-Economic Status on Infant Attention

The development of visual attention is a key component of cognitive functioning in infancy and childhood. By the time children in poverty reach school, deficits in attention are readily apparent; however, when these attention delays manifest is unknown. The current study tested attention longitudina...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Infant and child development 2013-01, Vol.22 (1), p.53-67
Main Authors: Clearfield, Melissa W., Jedd, Kelly E.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Attention
Attention Control
Attention deficits
Economic Status
Hypothesis Testing
Infancy
Infant Behavior
Infants
Low income people
Poverty
SES
Social Development
Socioeconomic Status
Statistical Analysis
Visual Stimuli
Washington
Young Children
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Summary:The development of visual attention is a key component of cognitive functioning in infancy and childhood. By the time children in poverty reach school, deficits in attention are readily apparent; however, when these attention delays manifest is unknown. The current study tested attention longitudinally at 6, 9 and 12 months in infants from high‐socio‐economic status (SES) and low‐SES families. Infants were tested in a free play attention task in both simple and complex conditions, and two measures each of attention and inattention were scored. High‐SES infants showed greater attention overall and greater increases in attention when the stimuli were more complex. Low‐SES infants showed higher inattention than their high‐SES peers at all ages and were less likely to modulate their attention on the basis of stimulus complexity. Thus, by 6 months of age, low‐income infants already show deficits in attention. Results are discussed in terms of adaptability, implications for social development and attention interventions. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
ISSN:1522-7227
1522-7219
DOI:10.1002/icd.1770