User:Anyel Aguilar/sandbox

Fourth year Psychology student at UCSC.

Simultaneous Attention

Simultaneous attention is a type of attention, classified by attending to multiple events at the same time. Simultaneous attention is demonstrated by children in Indigenous communities, who learn through this type of attention to their surroundings. Simultaneous attention is present in the ways in which children of indigenous background interact both with their surroundings, and with other individuals. Simultaneous attention requires focus on multiple,simultaneous, activities. This differs from multitasking which is characterized by alternating attention and focus between multiple activities; that is, halting one activity before switching to the next.

Simultaneous attention involves uninterrupted attention to several activities occurring at the same time. Another cultural practice that may relate to simultaneous attention strategies is coordination within a group. San Pedro toddlers and caregivers frequently coordinated their activities with other members of a group in multiway engagements rather than in a dyadic fashion. Research concludes that children with close ties to Indigenous American roots have a high tendency to be especially keen observers.

Cultural variation

Children appear to develop patterns of attention related to the cultural practices of their families, communities, and the institutions in which they participate.

In 1955, Jules Henry suggested that there are societal differences in sensitivity to signals from many ongoing sources that call for the awareness of several levels of attention simultaneously. He tied his speculation to ethnographic observations of communities in which children are involved in a complex social community with multiple relationships.

Many Indigenous children in the Americas predominantly learn by observing and pitching in. There are several studies to support that the use of keen attention towards learning is much more common in Indigenous communities of North and Central America than in a middle-class setting. This is a direct result of the learning by observing and pitching in model.

Keen attention is both a requirement and result of learning by observing and pitching-in. Incorporating the children in the community gives them the opportunity to keenly observe and contribute to activities that were not directed towards them. It can be seen from different Indigenous communities and cultures, such as the Mayans of San Pedro, that children can simultaneously attend to multiple events. Most Maya children have learned to pay attention to several events at once in order to make useful observations.

One example is simultaneous attention which involves uninterrupted attention to several activities occurring at the same time. Another cultural practice that may relate to simultaneous attention strategies is coordination within a group. San Pedro toddlers and caregivers frequently coordinated their activities with other members of a group in multiway engagements rather than in a dyadic fashion. Research concludes that children with close ties to Indigenous American roots have a high tendency to be especially keen observers.

This learning by observing and pitching-in model requires active levels of attention management. The child is present while caretakers engage in daily activities and responsibilities such as: weaving, farming, and other skills necessary for survival. Being present allows the child to focus their attention on the actions being performed by their parents, elders, and/or older siblings. In order to learn in this way, keen attention and focus is required. Eventually the child is expected to be able to perform these skills themselves.

Observational learning across cultures

Cultural variation can be seen in the extent of information learned or absorbed by children through the use of observation and more specifically the use of observation without verbal requests for further information. For example, children from Mexican heritage families tend to learn and make better use of information observed during classroom demonstration then European heritage children. Another example is seen in the immersion, of children in some Indigenous communities of the Americas, into the adult world and the effects it has on observational learning and the ability to complete multiple tasks simultaneously. This might be due to children in these communities having the opportunity to see a task being completed by their elders or peers and then trying to emulate the task. In doing so they learn to value observation and the skill-building it affords them because of the value it holds within their community. This type of observation is not passive, but reflects the child's intent to participate or learn within a community.

Observational learning can be seen taking place in many domains of Indigenous communities. The classroom setting is one significant example, and it functions differently for these communities in comparison to what is commonly present in Western schooling. The emphasis of keen observation in favor of supporting participation in ongoing activities strives to aid children to learn the important tools and ways of their community). Engaging in shared endeavors - with both the experienced and inexperienced - allows for the experienced to understand what the inexperienced need in order to grow in regards to the assessment of observational learning. The involvement of the inexperienced, or the children in this matter, can either be furthered by the children’s learning or advancing into the activity performed by the assessment of observational learning . For the Indigenous communities to rely on observational learning is a way allowing for their children to be a part of ongoing activities in the community (Tharp, 2006).

Although learning in the IAC is not always the central focus when participating in an activity studies have shown that attention in intentional observation differs from accidental observation. Intentional participation is “keen observation and listening in anticipation of, or in the process of engaging in endeavors”. This means that when they have the intention of participating in an event, their attention is more focused on the details, compared to when they are accidentally observing.

Observational learning can be an active process in many Indigenous American communities. The learner must take initiative to attend to activities going on around them. Children in these communities also take initiative to contribute their knowledge in ways that will benefit their community. For example, in many Indigenous American cultures, children perform household chores without being instructed to do so by adults. Instead, they observe a need for their contributions and take initiative to accomplish the tasks based on observations of others having done them. The learner's intrinsic motivations play an important role in the child's understanding and construction of meaning in these educational experiences. The independence and responsibility associated with observational learning in many Indigenous American communities are significant reasons why this method of learning can involve more than just watching and imitating. A learner must be actively engaged with their demonstrations and experiences in order to fully comprehend and apply the knowledge they obtain.

Indigenous communities of the Americas

Children from indigenous heritage communities of the Americas often learn through observation, a learning strategy that can carry over into adulthood. The heightened value towards observation allows children to multi-task and actively engage in simultaneous activities. The exposure to an uncensored adult lifestyle allows children to observe and learn the different skills and practices that are valued in their communities. Children observe elders, parents, and siblings complete tasks and learn to participate in them as they grow. They are seen as contributors themselves and therefore learn to observe multiple tasks being completed at once and can learn to complete a task, while still engaging with other community members without being distracted.

Indigenous communities utilize observational learning by providing more opportunities to incorporate children in everyday life. This form of integration can be seen in some Mayan communities where children are given full access to community events, which allows observational learning to occur more often. Other children in Mazahua, Mexico are known to intensely observe ongoing activities. For example, in native Northern Canadian and Indigenous Mayan communities children often learn as third-party observers from stories and conversations by others. Most young Mayan children are carried on their mother’s back, allowing the young child to observe the mother’s work. This also allows them to see the world as how the mother would see it. Children are often allowed to learn freely without restrictions and with minimal guidance from their parents or older siblings. Children are self-motivated to learn and finish their chores without their parents telling them to do so. These observant children act as a second set of eyes and ears for their parents by keeping them updated with the community.

From an early age, Marquesan children are provided full stimulation in a world by their mothers for attempts of interaction first followed by encouragement make outside contact with others. This allows for caregivers to shape the attention of children towards the community and objects as well as to shape the movements of children towards effective contact and locomotion. The Marquesan children have the opportunity of sharing extended social relationships allowing for their world to be enhanced, and this could be expressed in the forms of learning and attention.

Within certain indigenous communities a characteristic of observational learning is that people do not typically seek out explanation beyond basic observation. This is because they are competent in learning through astute observation. In a Guatemalan footloom factory amateur adult weavers observed skilled weavers over the course of weeks without questioning or being given explanations; the amateur weaver moved at their own pace and began when they felt confident. The framework of learning how to weave through observation can serve as a model that particular members or groups within a society use as a reference to guide their actions in particular domains of life.