Sustained Attention in Three-Year-Old Children: The Impact of Teaching Conditions and Choice

Abstract This study investigates how different teaching conditions affect the sustained attention of 3-year-old children during play in early learning environments. Play is considered a primary method for young children to learn. The teaching conditions examined were child-initiated choice, adult choice, and adult presentation. Ninety-three children participated in the study, which took place in a university laboratory preschool. The classrooms were evaluated using the Early Childhood Environment Rating Scale-Revised (ECERS-R). Researchers recorded how long the children focused on toy play across the three conditions and then analyzed the data using a fixed-effects model ANOVA. Child-initiated choice resulted in the longest attention spans, followed by adult choice, with adult presentation yielding the shortest attention spans. These results highlight the importance of choice and autonomy in helping young children sustain attention, implying that educators should create learning experiences and environments that reflect children’s interests and developmental needs to increase both engagement and learning.