Children Struggling to Focus on a Task May Have Underdeveloped Working Memory, Study Finds

Children who find it hard to focus on a task at hand could have underdeveloped working memories, preventing them from completing a task without "over-exploring."

That is according to a study recently published in the journal Psychological Science. In the study, researchers at Ohio State University suggested that "over-exploring" among children could point to either their curiosity or immature working memory. The study defines over-exploring as children continuing to explore and gather information irrelevant to their tasks, even when they already know the correct solution.

How the Study Dismisses Other Beliefs

Prior to the study's findings, it was widely believed that "distributed attention" in children was due to their lack of maturity to understand the task at hand or pay attention for longer periods. Some also believed children were just easily distracted and lacked the control needed to focus.

The researchers studied adults and children between the ages of four and six. Study participants were asked to identify two bird-like creatures. For children, researchers covered up each body part and asked the kids to uncover them one by one and match which creature it was.

During the study, researchers found that children would still uncover other body parts despite knowing that the tail, for instance, was a part of one of the creatures. Ultimately, researchers concluded that children did not retain information as long as adults. However, they noted that future studies will be needed to see whether their distributed attention is just simple curiosity.

Other Reasons for Lack of Focus

The study's findings add to a growing list of reasons why children struggle to focus. A 2019 study from Growing Up Australia found that children who struggle to focus in the classroom lack sleep. In fact, that study found that only half of teens ages 16 to 17 were getting the recommended hours of uninterrupted sleep, which is between eight to 10 hours, on school nights.

Children with short attention spans could also be suffering from anxiety, ADHD, a learning disorder, OCD, or trauma, according to the Child Mind Institute.