New study reveals why kids can't resist urge to explore
A recent study has found that kindergarten-age children often have a hard time focusing efficiently on tasks. The research found that these children often divert their attention from the most crucial aspects of an assignment, instead gathering unnecessary information. The behavior is not a result of a lack of understanding or attention span, as their brains are sufficiently developed for both.
Over-exploration: A result of curiosity or underdeveloped memory?
The study indicates that kids aged four to six years spread their attention too broadly, because of either extreme curiosity or an immature working memory. This causes them to over-explore while chasing a goal. "Children can't seem to stop themselves from gathering more information than they need to complete a task, even when they know exactly what they need," says Vladimir Sloutsky, co-author of the study and professor of psychology at Ohio State University.
Children's attention distribution is a mystery yet to be solved
In previous research, Sloutsky and his team found that children tend to distribute their attention widely, often unable to ignore irrelevant information. This behavior is in stark contrast to adults who generally filter out unnecessary details for task efficiency. The reasons behind this broad attention distribution in children still remain unclear. Even when motivated by small rewards like stickers, kids continue over-exploring and gathering unhelpful information.
Study explores distractibility in children
To get a grip on this strong inclination toward over-exploration, researchers created an on-screen experiment. Both kids and adults were asked to identify two types of fictitious bird-like creatures, each with unique color-shape combinations for different body parts. Even though they quickly learned that one body part always indicated a creature's identity, kids kept revealing more parts before making their identification.
Behavior not driven by button tapping
To rule out the possibility that kids were just having fun revealing each body part or tapping buttons, the researchers introduced an 'express' button. This button would reveal the whole creature and all its parts with one tap. The study found that kids mostly chose this express button, which clearly indicated that their previous behavior wasn't just for fun.
