Graphomotor output was assessed in children with attentional problems using the Repeated Patterns Test (RPT). Forty-eight subjects, ages 8 to 13, who met standard criteria for Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), participated, of whom 24 had primarily Inattentive Type and 24 had Combined Type ADHD. Both groups had intact visuomotor…

Three theories have been proposed to explain the relationship between nonverbal behavior and cognitive learning: arousal theory, depth-of-processing theory, and muscular movement theory. The first two theories place emphasis on the role of the teacher and have been empirically tested. The third theory, muscular movement (which suggests that the…

The study compared play among five groups of children (ages 3-7 years): normal children (N=41); those diagnosed with language delays (N=241), those with autism but normal intelligence (N=71), those with autism and mental retardation (N=97), and those with nonautistic mental deficiency (N=86). Each child was evaluated using a 25 minute structured…

Effects of group participation in a recreation program emphasizing perceptual motor skills and interpersonal values of potentially delinquent boys were examined and compared to the same effects in a group of normal boys participating in a separate but similar program. The boys ranged in age from 12 to 18 years. Perceptual motor skills measured…

Perceptual-motor functioning is a cyclic process involving: (1) organizing incoming sensory stimuli with past or stored perceptual information; (2) making motor (internal) decisions based on the combination of sensory (present) and perceptual (past) information; (3) executing the actual movement (observable act) itself; and (4) evaluating the act…

This report relates current attentional research and theory to the development of skilled performance, with emphasis on how performance changes with practice. Dual process attention theory is reviewed, and the distinction between automatic and controlled processing is examined. The changing interactions between automatic and controlled processing…

The importance of including an occupational therapist in an interdisciplinary team to assess learning disabilities is demonstrated with the case of an 8-year-old boy who was evaluated and diagnosed as having severe reading disabilities and perceptual dysfunction. (MC)

A basic text on physical education for the handicapped, this edition is divided into four major sections containing detailed discussion of the general topic area under consideration. The first section presents basic information about historical background, general patterns of growth and development, the nature of motor learning, and the psychology…

The purpose of this study was to attempt to train the horizontality concept in a group of first graders who were non-operational on the horizontality concept but transitional on what Piaget has termed the precursor concepts of distance and length conservation. There were two groups of subjects (training and control), all of whom had failed a…

This review of the literature on the development of young children's curiosity is directed specifically toward teachers and other practitioners and emphasizes what socialization agents can do to influence children's curiosity. Gaps in current knowledge about children's curiosity and implications of research findings are discussed. Theoretical…

It is argued that the current theoretical orientation of motor behavior research toward information processing is only at the descriptive level. An outline of requirements for motor behaviorists to discover the mental operations that precede motor performance is presented. It is suggested that unless basic knowledge is obtained on how movement…

SIGNIFICANT RESEARCH ON THE PHYSIOLOGICAL AND FUNCTIONAL ASPECTS OF VISION AND READING DISABILITY IS SURVEYED. CONCLUSIONS BASED ON THE LITERATURE IN THE FIELD ARE DISCUSSED. A BIBLIOGRAPHY OF 70 REFERENCES AND A GLOSSARY OF TERMS ARE APPENDED. A TABLE SUMMARIZING REFRACTIVE ERRORS AND EYE DEFECTS CONTRIBUTING TO READING DISABILITY IS INCLUDED.…