In the series of experiments supported by this grant, some fundamental characteristics of the concept of attention were explored. The first experiments were based upon the assumption that attention is limited and consequently that adult subjects may only be able to perceive a fairly restricted portion of the stimuli available to them at any moment…

This study investigated the classroom attention as well as performance on simple tasks of seriously disturbed, psychotic-type, verbally communicative children under conditions of reduced auditory input (using ear protectors) and under conditions of normal auditory input (using a placebo device). No significant difference was found in either task…

Forty-two educable mentally retarded children (21 boys, 21 girls) performed an oddity learning task in one of three conditions: experimenter not present, experimenter present and providing relevant cues (RC), and experimenter present and providing irrelevant cues (IC). The experiment was designed to test J. Turnure's outerdirectedness hypothesis…

The effect of same sex and cross sex experimenters on the attentive behaviors and learning of 64 educable mentally retarded children were examined under two conditions: experimenter not present; and experimenter present and providing cues relevant to task mastery. Female Ss were found to perform significantly better with male experimenters than…

Investigated was the functional relationship between specific academic survival skills (Attending, Volunteering, Work, and the negative behavior, Looking Around) and academic achievement (reading achievement). Ss were students in three regular first grade classrooms, one of which served as a control classroom. Following a teacher training program,…

A study was conducted in which the infants' behavior was allowed to control stimulus duration. A group of five infants were tested once a week from 3 through 14 weeks of age. A second group of five infants were tested once a week from 8 through 14 weeks of age. A third group of 18 infants were tested once at 3, 8, or 14 weeks of age. Once a…

The effects of musical stimulation on activity and academic performance were studied in 36 retarded children (ages 11-19 years). (Author/DLS)

The article gives suggestions for parents on activities which will help their young children learn to focus their attention and also help develop skills such as sorting, matching, listening, and memorizing. (PHR)

Reviewed in the paper are theories and concepts about intelligence, and proposed is a theory set forth in stimulus-response terminology. Available from: Ablex Publishing Corporation, 355 Chestnut Street, Norwood, New Jersey 07648. (CL)

The study of the ability of 16 early treated phenylketonuric (PKU) patients (ages 6-23 years) to solve complex spatial problems suggested that choice of problem-solving strategy, attention span, and accuracy of mental representation may be affected in PKU patients, despite efforts to maintain well-controlled phenylalanine concentrations in the…

Two experiments investigate children's knowledge about attentional capacity limits. Preschool children aged three and four years are asked to choose whether they will listen to pairs of stories simultaneously or one at a time. Results demonstrate a preference for listening to one at a time. (Author/RWB)

Hyperactive and normal elementary students (N=27) were administered story conditions that differed in presentation rate and information relevance and repetition to determine whether listening problems of hyperactive children could be attributed to delays that encourage impulsive responding. Findings suggested that rate of information presentation…

Examined the differential validity of teacher ratings of Inattention/Overactivity and Aggression among 48 clinic-referred boys. These ratings were correlated with observations undertaken in three different classroom settings. Results indicated that the teachers were able to differentiate significantly between these externalizing behaviors in the…