Children often struggle to focus on tasks because they explore too much, gathering extra information even when they know what they need. This isn’t due to a lack of brain maturity or poor control but rather their curiosity or undeveloped working memory.
Researchers found that this broad attention might be driven by a desire to explore or limitations in their ability to manage information effectively.
Sloutsky and Wan, in their new study published in Psychological Science, found that children often over-explore tasks and gather more information than needed, even when learning to focus on rewards like stickers.
Their research confirms that kids tend to spread their attention too broadly and don’t filter out irrelevant information like adults. The study aimed to explore if this distractibility is the reason for their tendency to over-explore.
In a study with 4—to 6-year-olds and adults, participants identified two bird-like creatures by their body parts’ color and shape. The tail was always a perfect match for one type of creature, and adults quickly used this to identify the beast.
However, children often uncovered extra body parts before choosing, even when they knew the tail was vital. Researchers then tested if children liked tapping buttons by allowing them to reveal the whole creature at once or tap each part individually.
Children mainly used the “express” option to reveal the whole creature in one tap, showing they weren’t just clicking for fun. The study suggests that children’s tendency to explore more might be due to underdeveloped working memory, causing them to second-guess and check more details. Future research will examine whether this behavior is due to curiosity or memory development.
Journal reference:
- Qianqian Wan, Vladimir M. Sloutsky et al., Exploration, Distributed Attention, and Development of Category Learning. The Journal Psychological Science. DOI: 10.1177/09567976241258146.