3-246 - Learning in a Noisy World: Regulating Children’s Attention at Home and at School

Session Type: Paper Symposium

Integrative Statement

From early in life, infants are exposed to a multisensory environment, which generates many stimulations and distractions (for example, playing with flashy and noise-generating toys, while a TV is on in the background). This symposium brings together an international group of researchers to discuss the latest findings on the impact of auditory and visual stimulations on children’s attention in real-life learning environments, namely their homes and classrooms. The first talk presents work investigating naturalistic measures of noise in infants’ homes in the UK, showing that higher noise levels are associated with increased physiological stress, and reduced attention. When children attend school, they also have to deal with distractions, such as peer conversations. The second talk will discuss pupils’ reactions to noise, and will introduce two types of interventions (mindfulness, and noise awareness workshops) aimed at reducing distracting noise in classrooms. This study, conducted in France, shows that mindfulness training can improve children’s behavioural control, whereas workshops focused on noise awareness can influence children’s perception of noise, reducing annoyance and increasing attention. Studies 1 and 2 propose real-time measures of distractors, yet they use traditional lab-based assessments of attention that do not carry educational content themselves. The third talk uses real-time measures of attention regulation during reading in young children in the US. Results indicate that book design can be optimized to reduce gaze shifts during reading and increase comprehension in beginning readers. Overall, this symposium will provide insights into supporting developing attention regulation from infancy until elementary school years.

Sub Unit

• Attention, Learning, Memory

Chair

• Jessica Massonnié, Birkbeck, University of London

Discussant

• Vladimir M. Sloutsky, The Ohio State University

Individual Presentations

• Naturalistic Noise in the Home: How Environmental Noise Influences Attention and Emotion Regulation in Infants - Presenting Author: Sam Wass, University of Cambridge; Non-Presenting Author: Farhan Mirza, University of East London; Non-Presenting Author: Celia Smith, University of East London

• Studying in Noisy Classrooms: Improving Attention and Reducing Noise Annoyance Through Interactive Workshops - Presenting Author: Jessica Massonnié, Birkbeck, University of London; Non-Presenting Author: Philippe Frasseto, Académie de Corse; Non-Presenting Author: Denis Mareschal, Birkbeck, University of London; Non-Presenting Author: Natasha Z. Kirkham, Birkbeck, University of London

• The Role of Attention Regulation in Reading Comprehension in Beginning Readers - Presenting Author: Anna Fisher, Carnegie Mellon University; Non-Presenting Author: Cassondra Eng, Carnegie Mellon University; Non-Presenting Author: Karrie E Godwin, Kent State University