Attention levels in children

Topic: Observe a child of under five years and comment on their attention levels in relation to the research carried out by Cooper, Moodey and Reynell (’78). Is their attention at an age appropriate level? Child observed: Hamza Age: 1 year 5 months Attention level develops as a child grows, it develops with age, helping a child concentrate better on his surroundings and learn new things. It is also very important for language development. Hamza is a one and a half year old child who is ery active and is seen getting into mischief at all times of the day.

He has a single track of mind when it comes to doing things his way and he is seen playing with his toys for hardly a few minutes at a time. He is fonder of playing with electrical appliances and will cry and whine until he gets what he wants. Then one can see him playing and laughing for a long time. One of his favourite activities is playing with a torch light. He will sit on the floor and play with it, switching it on and off, until its atteries run out. Then he starts to whine and his attention has to be diverted with another activity.

Hamza likes to open and close the drawers, causing frequent mishaps. At this time, he is not willing to listen to anyone who calls him and does not respond to his name being called out. At times, he screams if he is called over and over again while he is playing with the drawers, indicating that he did not like the interruption. He will rush back into the room and start opening them and exploring he contents of the drawer if someone carries him out and tries to divert his attention.

Thus, he displays the rigid attention stage, as he is not easily distracted from his activities. The best way of distracting him is by getting him to play hide and seek. He will forget all about his mischievous activities and rush to search anyone who is hiding, peeping behind the curtains. Then one can see him playing for hours at an end, and frequently the adults get tired of his innocent play, but he continues o play happily, running to go and hide behind the curtains.

Here again he displays the rigid attention stage, where he has to be distracted by an activity which he enjoys and the adult ahs to follow his lead, thus motivating him. He displays bouts of anger when he does not get what he wants or when things are not done as he pleases. His rigid attention stage is visible once again when it is time for him to eat. He will not eat a single morsel offood, no matter how he is coaxed until he sees an airplane flying by. As he s busy waving ” Bye! to the airplane, one places a morsel of food into his mouth. After that his mother plays with him as she helps him finish his meal. At this stage he is beyond the fleeting attention stage, as he is better able to concentrate on what he is doing and enjoy his activities. However, he displays clear signs of rigid behavior at this age. Thus, his attention levels are at an age appropriate level in relation to the research by Cooper, Moodey and Reynell.