Twenty-six adolescents with educable mental retardation were identified as good or poor attenders based on teachers' ratings on an attention scale and were administered an auditory vigilance test and Posner's physical and name identity task. Although the vigilance task did not discriminate between groups, the more demanding Posner's task did.…

The effects of a combination of attribution plus specific-task strategy training were compared to specific task training as they related to 24 African-American mothers' perceptions of their children. Mothers in the attribution plus strategy condition perceived their children to show improved behavior, ability to follow directions, and pay…

Before playing a video game, 47 gifted second graders and 47 gifted fifth graders were instructed to adopt an evaluative, process, outcome, or no specific goal focus while playing. Older children showed better performance overall and their best performance when instructed to adopt an evaluative goal. Younger children showed their worst performance…

A study involving six boys (ages 2-9) with autism found the use of naltrexone improved social initiations on videotape samples, social scale of the Gilliam Autism Rating Scales (4 out of 6 improved), stereotypies scale of GARS (5 out of 6 improved), and attention problems (4 out of 6 improved). (Contains references.) (CR)

The study investigated the effects of Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) use on pupils with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) symptoms. Nine Greek primary school pupils with ADHD symptoms and four others with no such deficit worked on a computer, either individually or collaboratively, once a week for a six-week period.…

Children (ages 5, 7, and 9 years) and young adults completed two visual attention tasks that required them to make a forced choice identification response to a target shape presented in the center of a computer screen. In the first task (high correlation condition) each target was flanked with the same distracters on 80% of the trials (valid…

This study examined the interaction between working memory and language comprehension in children with specific language impairment (SLI), focusing on the function of the central executive component and its interaction with the phonological loop (A. D. Baddeley, 1986) in complex working memory tasks. Thirteen children with SLI and 13 age-matched…

Background: Using longitudinal data from the NICHD Study of Early Child Care and Youth Development, we examined behavior problems and social and academic outcomes from ages 9 through 12 in children classified into five trajectories of physical aggression, on the basis of maternal ratings obtained from 24 months through 9 years (N = 1195). Methods:…

The effect of "temperament" in a school-like environment was evaluated for 30 children with mental retardation, 30 children with autism, and 30 typical children (all groups with a mean mental age of 23 to 24 months). Five-minute videotapes of each child attempting to complete a puzzle were viewed and scored by raters on the University of…

Attentional processes are said to be central to children's academic learning, yet theories of attention may not be useful in defining and measuring such learning. A formal survey of 35 preschool teachers indicated that teacher definitions were either vague and intuitive, based on many observable child behaviors (like eye orientation and being…

The term "attention deficit disorder" (ADD) is defined, criteria used by the American Psychiatric Association in diagnosing ADD are listed, and possible causes noted. Remediation needs of children with ADD include attention skills, self-esteem, and social skills. Early diagnosis is important, and teachers and parents need to identify…

A study was conducted to examine the influence of visual complexity in a televised presentation on attention and learning among young children. (Visual complexity is defined as a composite variable that assesses the number of perceptual elements in a visual display and accounts for the extent of movement or activity in a scene.) Forty-eight…

A bibliography and selected annotations of research on cognitive style are presented. The citations were retrieved from computer and manual searches of the literature. Selected items, based on their significance to research efforts, are organized around subject, method, and results of each study. Ten constructs are included: (1) field…

Compared was the effectiveness of punishment and positive reinforcement on the nonattending behaviors and academic achievement of 18 elementary grade children in two special classes for children with social or adjustment problems. During the positive reinforcement condition each student earned a slash mark whenever he was observed attending to…

In this study designed to generate hypotheses concerning adult learning, cognitive processes, and the reeducation of disadvantaged adults, the phenomena of concept attainment, symbol manipulation, verbal behavior, differential instruction, and awareness levels were investigated. Attention focus (cognitive style) in the concept attainment process…