This study examined the ability of a newly developed computerized visual vigilance measure, the Preschool Vigilance Task (PVT), to differentiate between 20 hyperactive and 20 control preschoolers. The PVT was developed to minimize cognitive requirements in a vigilance measure. The study compared performance of the subjects on the PVT and the…

The study examined the family backgrounds, attentional patterns, and interpersonal styles of 20 Canadian learning disabled (LD students (10-22 years old). Using the Test for Attentional and Interpersonal Styles and a questionnaire, 94 family members, including the 20 Ss, were interviewed. Although no strong familial patterns of import were…

The newsletter's main article focuses on hyperactivity and attention deficit disorder. The causes of hyperactivity, which affects 3-5 percent of all children, are elusive but may include neurological immaturity, inherent genetic problems, or fetal exposure to harmful substances. Patterns of behavior that typify a hyperactive child include a short…

Intended for caregivers, the book provides basic information about the use of medication for children with hyperactivity, learning disabilities, and mental retardation. The main emphasis is on psychotropic drug use for hyperactivity and aggressiveness. Chapter 1 explains fundamental terms and concepts relating to drug therapy. Major stresses…

Sustained attention and inhibitory control of 15 nonhyperactive, learning disabled (LD) boys, 15 hyperactive but not LD boys, and 15 normal boys (11-12 years old) were studied, on teacher ratings of impulse control in the classroom and testing results. Coming to attention, decision making, sustained attention, and attention-concentration were…

The purpose of this research was two-fold: first, it examined the inappropriate behavior exhibited by a group of parent-labeled hyperactive children; and second, it evaluated various techniques that might be utilized by the classroom teacher to deal more effectively with these children. The hyperactive children observed in this study were from an…

A scheme of classification is suggested for physicians faced with various prescriptions for remediation of children with learning disabilities. Three models of the causes of learning disability are suggested: (1) the difference model which stresses normal variability in the pattern of development of mental abilities; (2) the deficit model which…

Research is reviewed in support of the author's hypothesis that the majority (60 to 80 percent) of learning disabled children are not brain damaged but have above average spatial ability and major deficits in auditory-vocal memory processing which are genetic in nature. Research is reported to support other aspects of his hypothesis such as the…

Statistics bear out comments by concerned administrators that across the nation teachers are working in a state of fear, at times subjected to assaults, harassment, intimidation, and rape; and that unlawful and violent acts by students on campuses have occurred with so much more openness and defiance than in the past that the physical safety of…

In an effort to narrow the gap between scientific findings and applied clinicians, the author exposed clinical cases to recent laboratory findings of neurophysiology and sought to relate some possible linkage between the two. Two studies about the operation of the mind in information processing and learning were related to two clinical cases. The…

In Study I, reading disability children were tested on perceptual encoding speed with a visual reaction-time task requiring same-different judgements. Performance of disabled children deteriorated as testing progressed, and recovered after a rest. In Study II, the poor readers of Study I were rated by their teachers on a 15-item inventory of…

This book relates laboratory work on learning disabilities to classroom work with learning-disabled children. Separate chapters discuss the concept of learning disabilities, learning disabilities and research on learning, attention and learning, learning disabilities and the brain-dysfunction hypothesis, hyperactivity and the effects of…