A new study reveals why kindergarten-aged children tend to overexplore.
The reasons behind young children's frequent struggles with focusing on particular tasks have been clarified by a recent study. It was found by researchers that although children as young as kindergarten are able to comprehend and carry out instructions, their natural tendency is to explore their environment.
The four, five, and six-year-old youngsters in the study showed a tendency to scatter their attention widely, gathering too many details that divert them from their main objective. The researchers claim that this behaviour is caused by their innate curiosity and the constraints of their working memory at this developmental stage rather than a lack of comprehension or attention span.
According to a release by the Ohio State University, it now appears that kids distribute their attention broadly either out of simple curiosity or because their working memory isn't developed enough to complete a task without "overexploring."
"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," said Vladimir Sloutsky, co-author of the study and professor of psychology at The Ohio State University.
Sloutsky conducted the study, published recently in the journal Psychological Science, with lead author Qianqian Wan, a doctoral student in psychology at Ohio State.
The findings suggest that while young children may have difficulty focusing on a single task, it is a normal and expected part of their cognitive development. As their brains mature, they will gradually develop better concentration skills and learn to prioritise relevant information.