This study investigated gender differences in kindergarteners' literacy skills, specifically, whether differences in children's classroom behaviors explained females' early learning advantage. Data included information on 16,883 kindergartners (8,701 boys and 8,182 girls) from the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study, Kindergarten Cohort of…

This study quantified the influence of visual attention therapy on the reading comprehension of 30 6th-grade children with moderate reading disabilities (RD). Experimental subjects received 12 one-hour sessions of individually monitored, computer-based attention therapy programs. After 12 weeks, the experimental subjects, but not the controls,…

Four different age groups (8-9-year-olds, 11-12-year-olds, 13-15-year-olds and young adults) performed a spatial rule-switch task in which the sorting rule had to be detected on the basis of feedback or on the basis of switch cues. Performance errors were examined on the basis of a recently introduced method of error scoring for the Wisconsin Card…

This study measured the effectiveness of a 9 a.m. nutrition break after it had been implemented for 1 academic year at an inner-city high school. Effectiveness was measured by student participation rates, student and teacher evaluations of hunger-associated symptoms experienced by students, and teacher evaluations of the effects on the learning…

The effects of an eight-week instructional program in creative dance/movement on the social competence of low-income preschool children were assessed in this study utilizing a scientifically rigorous design. Forty preschool children from a large Head Start program were randomly assigned to participate in either an experimental dance program or an…

Children who may appear to have Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder may actually be "activity hyper" because they are asked to attend to tasks or activities inappropriate for their age or circumstances. Such preschoolers exhibit overactivity or distractibility due to a number of ecological variables such as a problem with classroom…

This study examined motor, academic, and behavioral performance of 38 nine-year-old Australian children who had been described as biologically "at-risk" from neonatal conditions. In addition to individual tests taken by subjects, school progress questionnaires were administered to teachers and parents. Subjects were found to require a…

This study investigated the effects of distractors on children's task-relevant (central) and task-irrelevant (incidental) recall on a short term visual memory task involving pictures of familiar animals and household articles. The effect of mode of distractor (auditory or visual) and the effect of developmental level were also studied. Subjects…

Twenty third-grade children, all of whom scored below 90% accuracy in word recognition and comprehension at grade level, served as subjects in an investigation of the effects on reading fluency of four attentional activities: repeating directions, listening to a story paced or stimulated at 225 words per minute while reading the story, learning…

Students from thirteen middle school science classes participated in this study to determine their formal reasoning ability and locus of control. Students were observed through a sequence of lessons for their classroom behavior. Results indicated that achievement was related to high formal reasoning ability, attention to instruction, and internal…

The learning module described is for the use of special education or regular classroom elementary teachers who have children with attention problems. The primary focus of the module is upon a behavior modification approach to increase teacher skill in promoting attention in the exceptional child classroom. Included in the description of this…

High on the list of today's educational priorities is the effective programing of pictorial stimuli as language teaching tools. The value of any image depends on its content of information, and essential for clear comprehension of any picture are the principles of causality, parallelism, and contrast or negative comparison. Both artist and teacher…

This set of workshop materials and activities is designed for persons who teach academic and clinical courses to students in professional allied health programs. The workshop consists of a set of short didactic and more extensive experiential activities. The workshop is organized into four main parts. Each part is labeled an activity. The first…

Fifty-four elementary school children who had been identified as consistently inattentive to classroom activities were involved in a four-week treatment program. Attention was assessed using a time-sampling observational instrument developed for the study, based upon a previously-developed technique. Subjects were assigned randomly to either an…

This brief paper summarizes warning signs of learning disabilities in preschool children, elementary school children, and secondary school children. It notes that learning disabilities are presumed to arise from dysfunctions in the brain resulting in significant difficulties in perceiving information, processing and/or remembering information,…