Selective Attention as a Predictor of Learning Capacity: A Correlational Study in Young Adults

Abstract

The present study investigates the relationship between selective attention and learning capacity in young adults, grounded in contemporary cognitive and neuropsychological models of information processing. Selective attention is conceptualised as a central executive mechanism responsible for filtering relevant stimuli and inhibiting interference (Broadbent, 1958; Desimone and Duncan, 1995; Petersen and Posner, 2012). Learning efficiency is conceptualised as dependent on attentional gating processes that regulate encoding and consolidation in working and long-term memory systems (Atkinson and Shiffrin, 1968; Baddeley, 2012; Kandel et al., 2014). Results indicate an exceptionally strong positive association between selective attention and verbal learning performance (r = .97, p < .001). Regression analyses suggest that selective attention accounts for a substantial proportion of variance in learning performance within the present sample. Differential analyses further indicate significant gender and residential environmental differences. These findings provide empirical support for theoretical assumptions regarding the central role of executive attention in facilitating encoding and consolidation processes (Engle, 2002; Miller and Cohen, 2001). Implications are discussed in relation to education, cognitive neuroscience, and cognitive performance optimisation.