Although school break times have been justified by children's need to release surplus energy, research findings show little support for this theory. Restlessness and inattentiveness may be attributable to boredom. Regular breaks can be justified for other reasons. (SK)

Examined stability of activity and attention in 48 boys, originally evaluated as outpatients in a child psychiatry clinic. Measures of gross and fine motor activity, sustained attention, and self-vocalization showed significant stability over the two years for both free play and restricted academic settings. (Author/BL)

The concentration box is an effective fantasy technique that increases student attention span and helps build the capacity to concentrate. It can be used with a small group, an entire class, or an individual. The procedure is outlined and suggestions are made. (Author/BEF)

Evaluated number of format and direction changes across tests and grade levels of major elementary standardized reading achievement tests. Number of format changes varies from one change every 1.2 minutes on Metropolitan Achievement Test Level E1 to one change every 21.3 minutes on P1 level of Stanford Achievement Test. (Author)

Performance on tasks of memory and of attention was consistently interrelated for nonlearning disabled children and less consistently so for learning disabled subjects. Hyperactivity was also related to poorer performance on the cognitive measures. (Author/DB)

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…

Findings of this study argue against the existence of a separate diagnostic category of hyperactivity. Hyperactivity and conduct-problem scales should be combined for purposes of rating child behavior problems. A category of "attention deficit disorder without hyperactivity" should be considered as a separate rating scale factor.…

Twenty-eight normal and 28 learning disabled children were given the Bender-Gestalt Test under instructional sets of low (standard) attention or high attention. Results failed to support the hypothesis that high attention instructions would lead to differential recall performance of the diagnostic groups.

Studies fourth grade students to test a goodness-of-fit model of temperament. Children responded to the Dimensions of Temperament Survey (DOTS). Teachers specified demands/expectations for their students for each of the DOTS attributes and rated students' academic ability and adjustment. Objective measures of academic achievement were also…

Article describes behavior rating scales and the difficulties in the use of cutoff scores to identify students as Attention-Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder. Also described are how problems with interobserver agreement hamper the validity of rating scales and the subsequent conclusions that can be drawn about students' behavior. (RJM)

Three studies obtained teacher-reported prevalence rates for attention deficit hyperactivity disorder and other behavior disorders using the current Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-IV) criteria; compared rates with the prevalence for DSM-III-R and DSM-III within the same population of elementary students; examined the…

A study compared developmental functioning, social, and environmental backgrounds of 62 overly active children (age 7), 37 with inattentive behavior, and 46 controls. Children with inattentive behavior were more likely to have general cognitive delays, particularly in language development and were more likely to have fathers with low occupational…

Social interactions between children with Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) and their teachers, peers, and parents are discussed. Problematic interactions may depend on social skills deficits. Changing the focus to ADHD children who are not experiencing social skills deficits may prove beneficial. A review of the previous literature…