In developmental psychology, the ability of preschool children to control and sustain their attention is most closely related to which of the following?

• A. The development of executive function skills
• B. The emergence of object permanence
• C. The acquisition of fine motor skills
• D. The onset of formal operational thinking

Answer: (A)

Verified step by step guidance

1. Step 1: Understand the key concept in the question, which is the ability of preschool children to control and sustain their attention. This relates to cognitive processes that manage focus and self-regulation.
2. Step 2: Review the definitions of the options provided: executive function skills, object permanence, fine motor skills, and formal operational thinking.
3. Step 3: Recognize that executive function skills include working memory, cognitive flexibility, and inhibitory control, all of which are crucial for attention regulation.
4. Step 4: Note that object permanence is the understanding that objects continue to exist when out of sight, which is more related to memory than sustained attention.
5. Step 5: Understand that fine motor skills involve physical coordination and formal operational thinking emerges later in adolescence, so they are less directly related to attention control in preschoolers.