Quantitative Analysis of the Relationship Between EEG Activity, Attention, and Working Memory in Early Childhood

Abstract

Early childhood represents a critical developmental period for cognitive processes that support academic achievement and lifelong learning. While attention and working memory have been extensively studied through behavioral assessment, their neurophysiological substrates remain incompletely characterized in young children. This quantitative correlational study examined associations between electroencephalography (EEG) activity and behavioral measures of attention and working memory in typically developing early childhood. Participants were 27 early childhood students (M = 5.2 years, SD = 0.8 years) enrolled at RA Al Mubarak. EEG was recorded during performance of a Continuous Performance Task (attention) and Corsi Block-Tapping Test (working memory), with concurrent measurement of behavioral performance. Central theta power during the attention task correlated significantly with attention accuracy (r = .512, p = .009), while frontal theta power during the working memory task related positively to forward span (r = .469, p = .018) and standardized working memory index (r = .412, p = .043). Attention accuracy and working memory forward span demonstrated moderate positive association (r = .478, p = .016), indicating their interdependence during cognitive activity. Partial correlations controlling for age and sex remained substantially unchanged. These preliminary findings provide evidence that EEG oscillatory activity relates meaningfully to behavioral cognitive performance in early childhood, suggesting that multimodal assessment approaches integrating neurophysiological and behavioral measures may enrich early childhood cognitive evaluation. Replication in larger, longitudinally-designed samples remains essential before translating these discoveries into practical educational applications.