Children must learn to discriminate among the visual stimuli they experience and to recognize the existence of a visual language. Learning activities to help young children develop a sense of visual literacy are suggested. (PP)

Forty five-year-olds compared two arms of an L-shaped figure on-axis or perpendicular to axis inside circles of different diameters. In making perceptual judgments about the relative length, the children tended to describe the on-axis line as longer. The context model of visual anomalies was supported. (Author/CM)

Examined the efficacy of the McCarthy Scales as a predictor of reading readiness and achievement in a kindergarten sample (N=33). Results confirmed the predictive validity of the McCarthy Scales and suggested that, for this sample, visual discrimination and sequential ability skills may have been more important factors than verbal abilities.…

Infants 8.5 and 9.5 months of age were tested for ability to determine the location of an object hidden in one of two covered containers before their left-right positions were reversed. Only the older infants provided with different colored covers to their containers were able to do this task. (Author/DB)

Seven-year-olds compared successively presented oblique lines which varied as to their position within a square display and their relation to the diagonal axis of the display. Children apparently encoded lines in terms of position and axis features. They used a categorical spatial representational system to compare oblique lines. (Author/RD)

Annotates 16 children's books that have as their main thrust the development of children's visual awareness through puzzles, pictures, and games. (FL)

The effects of stimulus duration and contrast on duration of visible persistence as a function of spatial frequency were investigated in normal and specific-reading-disabled children. Results suggest that disabled readers have different contrast processing at low and high spatial frequencies and indicate differences between readers in basic visual…

Arithmetic and reading achievement scores of 84 children were correlated with power and precision of Bender Memory using the Bender Visual Memory Technique (BVMT). Of the 20 correlations, 16 were significant. Support for recommended use of the BVMT as a screening instrument for early assessment of arithmetic skill is provided. (Author/SJL)

Measures of visual perception, such as the Bender Visual-Motor Gestalt Test (BVMGT) usually require motoric responding, i.e., drawing of figures. An alternative test, the Non-Motoric Visual Gestalt Test (NVGT), is compared with the BVMGT and shown to be superior in measuring visual-perceptual abilities that can discriminate poor and average…

Field independence, visual analysis, and spatial visualization were investigated and social communication skills were assessed in two groups of 25 first graders (chosen for either high or low verbal ability). (Author/PHR)

Two time-delay conditions for teaching complex visual discriminations to 14 normal preschoolers, 12 with mild mental retardation, and 11 with moderate mental retardation were compared. Results indicated that for all populations and stimuli, time delay of multiple dynamic distinctive-feature prompts produced learning, while time delay of the single…

Replication of a study that showed that deaf 15- to 18-year- olds could accurately identify a significant number of isolated signs presented well out in peripheral vision found that 8- to 12-year-olds could also identify such signs, although results showed a significant effect of age on performance. (Author/CB)

Five experiments examined the role of global and local cues in memory retrieval in infancy. Results showed that infants encode and remember for substantial periods of time not only the shape of figures displayed in their periphery but also the global organization of these figures. They also adapt this information when responding to new events.…

This study of visual discrimination training with 22 adults with mental retardation involved either computer-delivered instruction with a stimulus-fading procedure or teacher-delivered verbal and nonverbal prompts. While the teacher prompts were effective with more subjects, participants learned more discrimination problems with the computer…

In order to assess vision in Alzheimer's disease, gerontologists must use tests that make minimal cognitive demands on the subject. Using such tests revealed a pattern of deficits in color discrimination, stereoacuity, contrast sensitivity, and backward masking. Impaired vision predicts deficient performance on numerous tests of cognition. (JPS)