A hypothesized hierarchy of tasks in the development of tactual discrimination (an essential skill for reading) was tested in 60 blind primary level children. For five braille and five Optacon (optical to tactile converter) sequences, Ss were asked to identify the different stimulus from the four presented. Scalogram analysis was used to examine…

The main problem of this study was to examine the set characteristics of children at various age levels. Subjects were observed according to their ease of excitability and extinction in the haptic and visual modalities. Set patterns were examined at different age levels to determine if there was any trend from one age to another. The findings…

An introduction and description of conference purposes precede a list of participants who presented technical papers and demonstrations along with their titles and institutions. Accounts are given of the following types of aids described and demonstrated: frequency transposition for hearing aids, tactual aids, and visual speech aids. Conclusions…

The purposes of this study were to investigate possible relationships between haptic abilities and first grade reading achievement and to determine whether significant differences in haptic function existed among defined subgroups of first grade subjects. Ninety-nine subjects, stratified by both sex and risk of failure (a combination of reading…

Sperry (1961) and others working on split brain learning reported that the two halves function in a nearly identical manner, giving excellent controlled replication of a learning problem. The present experiments were carried out with cats trained in a tactile discrimination apparatus, sometimes being forced to use the left paw, and sometimes being…

Discusses activities related to the kinesthetic sense, the perception of balance, and the perception of body position in space. (SL)

Provided in the second of two articles is further evidence of the validity of the author's sequence of tactual discrimination tasks for partial development of Optacon use readiness in young blind children. (IM)

Discusses the different types of learning disabilities (visual, auditory, motor, tactile, academic), types of accommodations needed for each disability, and hints for supervisors. These suggestions include practicing patience, being direct and specific, explaining inappropriate behavior, being understanding but firm, and being especially thorough…

The limitation of stimuli which occurs in visually impaired children can be partially ameliorated by strengthening other sense modalities. (JH)

Discussed are the exciting advantages and possibilities of using polystyrene trays found in meat packaging for printmaking. Among them are ease of use, low cost and quick availability of materials, beautiful textural effects. Procedures are explained for various age levels. (BF)

Methods for teaching pupils to use their senses to explore colors, shapes, textures, and sounds of the great outdoors are described. Ideas include: (1) having children hug their own special tree; (2) looking for geometric shapes in nature; (3) taking nocturnal nature walks; (4) building a track for racing insects; and (5) collecting objects with…

First-, third-, and fifth-grade children and adults performed a tactile shape-discrimination task. Changes in the magnitude of differences between performance in the left and right perceptual fields were examined. Results suggested that the right hemisphere becomes progressively more specialized for tactile spatial ability with increasing age.…

This article discusses the use of meditation in the classroom as a means to reduce tension and anxiety in students as well as to widen their perception of the world and themselves. (JD)