Letter pairs that could not be distinguished by learning disabled children were presented using an acquisition-reversal learning paradigm. Relevant external stimuli facilitated discrimination; in reversal, the cues were irrelevant. This technique facilitated learning, as well as retention four days later. (Attentional deficits are discussed). (GDC)

Examined relations of children's regulation and emotionality to their social functioning. Found that resiliency mediated effects of individual differences in attentional regulation on social status and socially appropriate behavior, and that negative emotionality moderated the positive relation between attentional control and resiliency. Also…

Five geometry experiments with 127 Australian high school students found that guidance provided in a format requiring attention to two sources of information resulted in performance no better than that on conventional problems. A format not requiring split attention resulted in the superiority of worked examples over conventional problems. (SLD)

Two experiments studied whether altering an auditory stimulus' rate of change affected infants' fixation of changing visual stimuli. Results demonstrated that infants exposed simultaneously to auditory and visual stimulation showed a reduced tendency to fixate on relatively more visually stimulating events. Heart rates also accelerated during…

Twelve children (ages 7-8) with attention deficit hyperactive disorder were administered the Selective Auditory Attention Test twice: after the administration of methylphenidate and after the administration of a placebo. Results revealed no simple drug effect but a strong order effect. (Author/JDD)

This study, involving 40 normal-hearing 6 year olds, substantiates the form equivalence of the Selective Auditory Attention Test. Analysis shows equal mean difficulty and significant correlations between lists in quiet and between lists presented with competing speech. (Author/JDD)

Infants' orienting of attention undergoes marked development in the first six months of life. Changes in attentional control appear to be related to infants' susceptibility to distress. (Author)

A study examined the effects of rationale emotive psychoeducational procedures on aspects of mental health with 22 Australian fourth grade girls and 14 control subjects who received an attention control intervention. Rational emotive education increased perceptions of internal locus of control and rationality but did not reduce trait anxiety.…

A visual orienting task was given to 11 high functioning male adolescents and adults with autism. Findings suggested that autistic people have difficulty processing briefly presented cue information and problems disengaging and shifting attention within the visual modality. Results support previous ideas that attentional dysfunction may underlie…

Three professors share techniques for helping students focus on assessments required in classes. Charts are used to show students the specific concepts, principles, and problems that will be included on multiple-choice tests; rubrics developed for assigned work are used to increase student expectations and direct their explorations; and negotiated…

Examines evidence that the research community studying infants' object concept and the community concerned with adult object-based attention have been studying the same natural kind. Maintains that the discovery that the object representations of young infants are the same as the object files of mid-level visual cognition has implications for both…

This article reviews factors that contribute to and improve selective and sustained attention in children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD--the inattentive and combined subtypes). A brief review of interventions for inattention included psychostimulant medication, behavioral consequences, active-learning, practice, and cognitive…

This study examined relationships between mathematical learning difficulties (MLD) and the planning, attention, simultaneous, successive (PASS) theory of cognitive processing. PASS processes were assessed in 267 Dutch students with MLD. Results indicated students with MLD performed lower than peers on all "Cognitive Assessment System"…

Background: This study investigated whether another person's social attention, specifically the direction of their eye gaze, and a non-social directional cue, an arrow, triggered reflexive orienting in children with and without autism in an experimental situation. Methods: Children with autism and typically developed children participated in one…

Attention acts as the mind's "gatekeeper" by regulating and prioritizing the stimuli processed by the central nervous system. It is essential for cognitive performance, memory, and behavior, and we know that even slight deficiencies in attention compromise learning. Basic neuroscience research further indicates that attention consists of (fairly)…