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Original Articles

Latent Factors Underlying Individual Differences in Attention Measures

Published Online:October 03, 2006https://doi.org/10.1027/1015-5759.22.3.177

Abstract

Following theoretical considerations that relate attention to perception and also to the executive control of performance in complex tasks (Bundesen, 1990; Logan & Gordon, 2001), two latent factors underlying individual differences in attention measures are assumed: Perceptual attention and Executive attention. The included attention measures are derived from the neuropsychology-based attention model by Sturm and Zimmermann (2000), the action-oriented five-component model by Neumann (1992), and the working memory model according to Baddeley (1986). Furthermore, one psychometric attention measure (Moosbrugger & Goldhammer, 2005) was selected. A sample of 232 students aged between 19 and 40 completed a test battery of 11 attention and concentration tests. For investigating the appropriateness of the hypothesized two-factor structure, confirmatory factor models, including Perceptual attention and Executive attention as latent factors, were tested. The results support the two-factor structure and, thereby, the hypothesis, that perceptual and executive attention are major factors underlying individual differences in attention measures.

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