Goal neglect is failing to act on a requirement you can still state. In typically developing children, this paper ties that failure to the complexity of the task structure, not to a vague lack of attention.
The approach
Children do tasks whose structure is made more or less complex, while the goal itself stays reportable. Neglect is scored when the requirement is dropped from the behaviour. The complexity of the structure is the manipulation.
Typically developing children
Goal neglect despite a reportable goal
Task-structure complexity as the cause
Roberts, Anderson
Journal of Experimental Child Psychology, 120, 59–72