Data from: Visual environment, attention allocation, and learning in young children: when too much of a good thing may be bad

A large body of evidence supports the importance of focused attention for encoding and task performance. Yet young children with immature regulation of focused attention are often placed in elementary-school classrooms containing many displays that are not relevant to ongoing instruction. We investigated whether such displays can affect children's ability to maintain focused attention during instruction and to learn the lesson content. We placed kindergarten children in a laboratory classroom for six introductory science lessons, and we experimentally manipulated the visual environment in the classroom. Children were more distracted by the visual environment, spent more time off task, and demonstrated smaller learning gains when the walls were highly decorated than when the decorations were removed.VisualEnv-Attn-Learning-DataThe data file includes the pre-test scores, post-test scores, total time-off-task, and time-off-task by distracter type in the Decorated and Sparse experimental condition. Additional tabs include a detailed summary about these outcome variables for each science lesson in each experimental condition