This book provides both a review of the literature and a theoretical framework for understanding the development of visual attention from infancy through early childhood. Taking a functional approach to the topic, the authors discuss the development of the selective and state-related aspects of attention, as well as the emergence of higher-level controls. They also explore the individual differences in these facets of attention, and consider the possible origins of early deficits in attention, which has obvious implications for children with developmental disorders such as attention-deficit hyperactive disorder. These findings will be invaluable to developmental, cognitive, and clinical psychologists and psychiatrists.

Educating the Human Brain is the product of a quarter century of research. This book provides an empirical account of the early development of attention and self regulation in infants and young children. It examines the brain areas involved in regulatory networks, their connectivity, and how their development is influenced by genes and experience. Relying on the latest techniques in cognitive and temperament measurement, neuroimaging, and molecular genetics, the book integrates research on neural networks common to all of us with studies of individual differences. In this book, the authors explain where, when, and how the brain performs functions that are necessary for learning. Such functions include attending to information; controlling attention through effort; regulating the interplay of emotion with cognition; and coding, organizing, and retrieving information. The authors suggest how these aspects of brain development can support school readiness, literacy, numeracy, and expertise. The audience for this book includes neuroscientists as well as developmental and educational psychologists who have interest in the latest brain research. The many helpful visuals - including brain diagrams, pictures and photographs of experimental setups, and graphs and tables displaying key data - also give this book appeal for graduate students.