Abstract
Theoretical background : Today, teachers are finding it increasingly difficult to maintain children’s attention in class. Yet, this cognitive function governs school learning. So, children’s attention has been of great interest to researchers in neuroscience and education. Many studies have investigated the factors that may affect the attention. It has been shown that the emotions felt by the subject have a deleterious effect on attention and consequently on school learning. However, Bower (1981) developed the emotional congruence model to highlight a favourable effect of emotions on the attention allocated to the task, when the emotion felt by the children was congruent with that conveyed by the task. Thus, the question of the effect of emotions on attention is not yet agreed upon. Further study of the potentially favourable effects would be necessary, since the majority of studies based on Bower’s model have not taken into account the developmental differences of the participants, such as their level of emotional abilities (identification, comprehension, expression, use, regulation). Thus, we reasoned that the development of children’s emotional skills could modulate the effect that emotions may have on children’s attention.
Method : Our study was conducted with a cohort of 128 students with an average age of 6 or 9 years. We constructed a 2-step protocol. In groups of 6 of the same age, the participants first answered a questionnaire (Emotion Awareness Questionnaire for Children) aimed at evaluating their level of emotional abilities in identification and emotional regulation. Then, during another class session and using an Individual Valence and Arousal Scale – Child, the same groups assessed their emotional state on 3 occasions. A first time before listening to sad or happy music (depending on the condition assigned to the group), a second time after listening to this music and then a last time after performing a barrage task against a colored background (yellow or gray depending on the condition). This last step aimed to induce a desired emotional state in order to verify Bower’s (1981) model via a double induction (music-color) and to evaluate their attentional performance by the results of the constellation task. Each condition assigned for each age group varied according to the emotion induced by the music listened to and the color of the barrage task, and the emotional congruence or incongruence between the induced emotional state and the emotion conveyed by the task through the target smiley on which the children had to focus their attention (happy or sad smiley).
Results : The results of our study are not significant overall. Genuinely, we do not find the Bower model. Indeed, it does not seem that emotional congruence promotes attentional performance. However, the valence of the emotion induced by the music-color double induction seems to have an impact on attentional performance. Positively valenced emotions appear to be facilitative especially in younger children (6 years). Although this difference between ages questions the role of a developmental factor such as emotional competence on attention, our results do not demonstrate it. Typically, our study did not show differences in the level of emotional abilities between participants, nor did better emotional abilities correlate with better attentional performance.
Discussion/Limitations : However, our results must be qualified. Indeed, although this scale is relatively subjective, the results obtained on the EEVAI-E seem to indicate that our double induction did not work, which could explain why Bower’s (1981) model of emotional congruence was not found. In addition, our study has many methodological biases. The gender of the participants was not adequately homogenized which may have created a gender bias. The number of participants per experimental condition is also not equivalent. Although we standardized the runs through clearly defined instructions, they were carried out by two different experimenters, which could also have influenced the results. Also, the group performances could also influence the performance and attention of the participants according to the dynamics, personalities.… Finally, concerning particularly the results related to emotional competences, one of the most important biases nuancing our results is that the questionnaire for the evaluation of emotional ablities is only standardized from the age of 8. Thus, 6-year-olds may have had comprehension problems. It might be interesting to repeat this study with older participants (e.g., 9 and 13 years old). Also, building an evaluation tool adapted to 6 year olds could be relevant. Given the importance of emotions in children’s school experience, it would be interesting to pursue research on emotional competencies and attention in order to provide teachers with avenues to promote their students’ attention in class. The goal is to promote the emergence of an optimal environment for the proper development and acquisition of academic learning.
Key words : Emotions – Emotional abilities – Emotional congruence – Attention – Constellation task– Children – School.
“Words I have learned” : Increasingly – Deleterious – Promotes – Biases.