Editing Attention (section)

===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.<ref>{{cite journal | vauthors = Correa-Chavez M, Barbara R |title=Cultural variation in children's attention and learning |journal=Psychology and the Real World: Essays Illustrating Fundamental Contributions to Society |year=2009 }}</ref>

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.<ref name="Chavajay 1999 1079–1090"/>

Many [[Indigenous peoples of the Americas|Indigenous children in the Americas]] predominantly learn by [[Observational Learning|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 European-American 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 La Laguna|San Pedro]], that children can simultaneously attend to multiple events.<ref name="Chavajay 1999 1079–1090"/> Most [[Maya peoples|Maya]] children have learned to pay attention to several events at once in order to make useful observations.<ref>{{cite book| vauthors = Rogoff B |title=The Cultural Nature of Human Development|publisher=Oxford University Press|isbn=9780195131338|date=2003-02-13}}</ref>

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.<ref name="Chavajay 1999 1079–1090"/><ref name=Morelli/> Research concludes that children with close ties to Indigenous American roots have a high tendency to be especially keen observers.<ref name="Silva 2010 898–912"/>

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.

In one study, it was found that when looking at a picture, Americans focus more on the center figure than Japanese do, especially after 1 second has passed. Japanese individuals spent larger amounts of time focusing on parts in the background.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Masuda |first1=Takahiko |last2=Ellsworth |first2=Phoebe C. |last3=Mesquita |first3=Batja |last4=Leu |first4=Janxin |last5=Tanida |first5=Shigehito |last6=Van de Veerdonk |first6=Ellen |date=2008 |title=Placing the face in context: Cultural differences in the perception of facial emotion. |url=https://doi.apa.org/doi/10.1037/0022-3514.94.3.365 |journal=Journal of Personality and Social Psychology |language=en |volume=94 |issue=3 |pages=365–381 |doi=10.1037/0022-3514.94.3.365 |pmid=18284287 |issn=1939-1315}}</ref> Miyamoto et al. compared pictures of landscapes in Japan and the US, noting that Japanese scenes contained more boundaries and edges than the American ones.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Miyamoto |first1=Yuri |last2=Nisbett |first2=Richard E. |last3=Masuda |first3=Takahiko |date=February 2006 |title=Culture and the Physical Environment: Holistic Versus Analytic Perceptual Affordances |url=https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1111/j.1467-9280.2006.01673.x |journal=Psychological Science |language=en |volume=17 |issue=2 |pages=113–119 |doi=10.1111/j.1467-9280.2006.01673.x |pmid=16466418 |issn=0956-7976}}</ref>