A neuropsychologically based assessment model of the structure of attention in children

Abstract

Traditional attentional assessment paradigms have often failed to separate factors relevant to components of attention from factors related to other cognitive‐related processes or task‐specific variance. This study attempted to evaluate various multidimensional assessment models of children's attentional functioning using a neuropsychological framework addressing multiple components of attention. A series of increasingly complex measurement models were proposed to explain 2nd graders’ (n = 107) patterns of performance across multiple measures of hemispheric activation, verbal and nonverbal selective and sustained attention, and general ability. Evaluation of the latent structure produced by these measurement models using confirmatory factor analysis suggested that a multidimensional factor structure that incorporated components of attention involving levels of processing provided a better resolution of the latent structure of the data than those based on lateralized processes or a unidimensional attentional model.