Two factors of predicted learning disorders were investigated: (1) inability to maintain appropriate classroom behavior (BEH), (2) perceptual discrimination deficit (PERC). Three groups of first-graders (BEH, PERC, normal control) were administered measures of impulse control, distractability, auditory discrimination, and visual discrimination.…

The relation between videotape-based observer judgements of attention to task and paper-and-pencil measures of academic performance was investigated in this study. Forty-five Grade 4 pupils engaged in an arithmetic computation task and were video-taped for ten consecutive school days. The tapes were then independently viewed by three observers,…

General intelligence may set structural feature limitations on three aspects of selective attention: direction, adjustability, and breadth. Data, theory, and methods bearing on this hypothesis were reviewed from the domain of visual discrimination learning. (Author/BW)

Observes 75 first- and third-grade children in their classroom mathematics seatwork to test assumptions drawn from Vygotsky's theory about the development of private speech and its relationship to task performance, attention, and motor behaviors accompanying task orientation. (HOD)

Two groups of seven autistic children (4-16 years old) wore auditory trainers for specified times. Videotapes were coded for three attentional states (normal, withdrawn, attacking), for verbalization and signing, and for appropriate and acceptable behaviors. Results demonstrated a decrease in time spent withdrawn and increases in signing and in…

The effects of self-assessment and self-recording were compared as treatments for increasing on-task behavior and academic productivity of elementary school learning disabled students (9-10 years old). Self- recording appears to be a more effective procedure than self-assessment for increasing attention to task. (Author/SEW)

The lecturer's first job is to get the students' attention. Techniques to hold the students' interest include: adapting the lecture to the audience; covering a few topics in depth rather than many superficially; and putting variety in the format. Nonverbal communication is as important as the content of the lecture. (JN)

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)