The Concept Shifting Test (CST) is a newly developed Trail Making Type test that measures concept shifting and executive functioning. The purpose of the present study was to determine whether CST performance was affected by age, gender, educational level, or handedness and to establish the normal range of test performance. The CST was…

The purpose of this study is to see if older adults who experience problems with thought suppression tend to encounter greater difficulty deriving a sense of meaning in life. Data from a longitudinal nationwide survey of older people (N = 988) indicate that greater difficulty with thought suppression is associated with a decline in meaning over…

The aim of this study was to ascertain the nature of the interaction between the affective value of musical distraction, personality type and performance on the cognitive tasks of reading comprehension, free recall, mental arithmetic and verbal reasoning in children aged 11-12 years. It was hypothesized that the cognitive performance of extraverts…

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…

A computer-based attention reduction model of training is presented, and associated issues related to instructional systems design are outlined. Attention reduction training (ART) is based on the dual task assessment procedure developed by researchers in the area of memory. The technique involves having subjects respond to two tasks…

This study examined the ability of a newly developed computerized visual vigilance measure, the Preschool Vigilance Task (PVT), to differentiate between 20 hyperactive and 20 control preschoolers. The PVT was developed to minimize cognitive requirements in a vigilance measure. The study compared performance of the subjects on the PVT and the…

The package presents a training approach for increasing test-taking skills of learning disabled (LD) and behaviorally disordered (BD) children along with a research study illustrating the approach's effectiveness with 92 LD or BD elementary students. The approach focuses on such strategies as attending to appropriate stimuli, marking answers…

The project attempted to experimentally validate the use of tutoring and small group teaching formats as alternatives to one-to-one teaching procedures involving autistic children. Single-subject studies and experimental-control group designs were used to compare the effects of tutoring and small group teaching formats in public and private school…

The study examined the family backgrounds, attentional patterns, and interpersonal styles of 20 Canadian learning disabled (LD students (10-22 years old). Using the Test for Attentional and Interpersonal Styles and a questionnaire, 94 family members, including the 20 Ss, were interviewed. Although no strong familial patterns of import were…

The project studied videotaped unstructured play sessions between 16 Downs Syndrome (DS) infants (aged 6 months and 12 months) and their mothers, to investigate the relationship between maternal attention-directing strategies and the infants' response to toys. A comparison group consisted of 16 high-risk premature infants matched by mental and…

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…

Fifty-four elementary school children previously identified as consistently inattentive were involved in an extraclassroom treatment program comparing three conditions. Changes in behavior did not transfer to regular classroom, and training for teachers did not affect in-class attention scores of subjects. (Author)

This study was conducted to examine the developmental patterns in young children's ability to use others as a resource in problem-solving situations and to compare the roles that mothers and same-age peers play as resources for children in such situations. A total of 48 middle-class 3-, 4-, and 5-year-old children participated in the study with…

A reliable, easily administered performance test of selective attentional ability was sought. A monaural listening task provided a baseline control for adequate hearing and memory; a dichotic listening task then provided indices of ability to focus attention and resist distraction while a simultaneous listening task provided measures of ability to…

Good and poor readers from grades 2 to 5 were compared on conceputal style preference, cognitive tempos and attentional styles. Attentional style measures distinguished poor and good readers better than the other cognitive style measures. (Author/BJG)