Attention in children: A neuropsychologically based model for assessment

Abstract

Attention is considered the foundation of most cognitive and neuropsychological functions. In child development literature, research on attention develops from two major sources—studies of children with attention deficits and studies of attentional development in normal children. These two lines of research, in addition to the adult literature, have produced diverse theories, concepts, and measures of the construct of attention. The developmental neuropsychological literature has made few attempts to study the relationship of developing brain systems to the development of various components of attention. This review attempts a synthesis of those components typically called selective, divided, and sustained attention in an attempt to integrate them within a developmental neuropsychological perspective. It describes a neuropsychologically‐based model for the assessment of the attentional system that can be used to guide the assessment and study of attention in children.