The pre- and posttestings of 30 emotionally disturbed children (median age 10.3 years) provided with short term residential services (median stay 8.2 months) in a mental health facility were evaluated to determine if there were a significant time rate of change in mastery learning and if the significant factors could be identified. The test…

Reports on an experiment that examined the independent effects of television content (violence) and television formal features (action) on preschool boys' attention to programs and their postviewing social behavior. Shows rapid character action facilitated visual attention to the programs and that television action level had no systematic effects…

The behavior ratings and psychometric profiles of children with attention deficit disorders (ADD) and children with developmental reading disorders (DRD) were compared. DRD children were more impaired in academic attainment and showed evidence of qualitative disturbances in reading and spelling. ADD children showed no qualitative reading or…

A new revision was developed using Rasch psychometric techniques to build a Knox's Cube Test (KCT) variable and item bank using the tapping series from all previous editions. The report forms developed give a clear picture of the subject's performance set in a context that is both normative and criterion. (Author/BW)

Observed fluctuations in problem-solving and classroom behaviors for 43 nonmedicated pupils who had attention deficits with hyperkinesis. Results showed that on problem-solving tasks except Digit Span, pupils performed better in the morning. In classroom behavior, all pupils exhibited more interference, off-task, noncompliance, and minor motor…

Robust interference effects were found which declined with age. Manipulating discriminability of the relevant stimulus dimension resulted in large changes in sorting time, but interference effects did not vary with baseline difficulty. These results were interpreted as strongly supporting both an absolute decrement model and a developmental trend…

Attempts the theoretical rapprochement of two theoretical constructs on working memory, neo-Piagetian models and Baddeley's model. Summarizes both types of models, then discusses their similarities and differences. Presents the results of a longitudinal study that supported the idea that these models might be complementary rather than…

Three experiments examined infants' perceptions of their own leg movements as presented to them via online video that varied the spatial orientation and directionality of movement. The infants looked significantly longer and generated significantly more leg activity while looking at the view displaying a left-right inversion than while looking at…

Study determined what parts of teacher behavior actually affect students and why students only pay attention at certain times. Researchers observed preschool teachers interacting with students, recording all behaviors. Results indicated only 58 percent of teacher behaviors were effective. The more cognitively complex demands ran greater chance of…

Describes a study of primary school children in Western Australia that was conducted to assess student attitudes towards a computer-based interactive arithmetic test. Examines whether the simple format of the test would capture the attention of the children long enough to gather the required statistical data. (Author/LRW)

A study compared the academic and learning characteristics of three students with attention deficit/hyperactivity disorders (AD/HD), three gifted students, and three gifted students with AD/HD. Giftedness conferred benefits related to specific talents but did not offer protection from the negative outcomes of AD/HD, such as inattention and…

A study compared the performance of 21 children without attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and 33 children with ADHD (ages 8-12), 21 of whom participated in the initial intervention and 12 of whom received the intervention after pre- and posttesting. After completing an 18-week intervention that included attention and problem-solving…

Twenty-three autistic children and 23 nonautistic children completed an attention battery comprising continuous performance tests, a digit-cancellation task, the Wisconsin Card Sorting Tests, and two computerized tests of shifting attention. Children with autism could focus on a particular stimulus and sustain this focus and could shift their…

We used an assessment that involved competing reinforcer dimensions in a concurrent-schedules arrangement to examine the effects of stimulant medication on impulsivity (i.e., sensitivity of choices to reinforcer immediacy relative to rate, quality, and effort) with 4 students with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. The assessments were…

This paper provides a preliminary report of a small-scale research examining the effectiveness of a series of Music Appreciation segments of "Pre-school: Learn to Fly"--a locally designed and produced early childhood TV program in Hong Kong. Four aspects of young children's musical development were studied: 1) musical exposure; 2)…