Donald W. Ball

Verbal rehearsal and selective attention in children with learning disabilities: a developmental lag.

Abstract To investigate the development of verbal rehearsal strategies and selective attention in learning disabled children, Hagens Central-Incidental task was administered to younger learning disabled (M CA = 8.68 years) and normal (M CA = 8.62 years) boys in Experiment 1 and to intermediate (M CA = 10.18 years) and older (M CA = 13.48 years) learning disabled boys in Experiment 2. Also, in Experiment 2, an experimentally induced verbal rehearsal condition was included to determine its effects on serial recall and selective attention performance. In Experiment 1, the serial postion curve of the normals revealed both a primacy and a recency effect, whereas that of the learning disabled revealed a recency effect only. In Experiment 2, both the intermediate and the older learning disabled exhibited both primacy and recency effects under both standard and rehearsal conditions. A developmental analysis of central recall for the three learning disabled groups revealed constant age-related increases in overall central recall and in primacy recall. That the normals recalled more central, but not more incidental, information than the learning disabled in Experiment 1 suggests that the learning disabled are deficient in selective attention. Correlational findings suggest that the selective attention of the learning disabled improves with age. The results were interpreted as support for the hypothesis of a developmental lag in the learning disabled population.

SELECTIVE ATTENTION AND COGNITIVE TEMPO OF LOW ACHIEVING AND HIGH ACHIEVING SIXTH GRADE MALES

There is much clinical and subjective support for the notion that academic underachievers of normal intelligence (learning disabled children) exhibit both impulsivity and poor attention. This study compared high and low achieving children on two experimental tasks previously designed to measure impulsivity (Kagans MFF) and selective attention (Hagens Central-Incidental Task). Results generated empirical support for more impulsivity and less selective attention in low achievers than high achievers. Results indicated the 2 measures were correlated, suggesting a link between selective attention and cognitive tempo.

Corrective Reading Program An Analysis of Effectiveness with Learning Disabled and Mentally Retarded Students

The Corrective Reading Program (CRP) was used with a group of learning disabled (LD) and educable mentally retarded (EMR) adolescents with data collected on the achievement of these students in the domains of reading recognition and comprehension. When compared to reading progress made in prior years, both groups showed significantly greater improvement. LD students experienced larger achievement gains than EMR students in both recognition and comprehension with differences in the former domain being statistically significant. Implications are discussed with regard to the two issues of possible benefits of a remedial orientation in curricula for adolescent students and of the validity of cross-categorical programming, respectively.

A Comparison of Prevalence Rate Variability from State to State for Each of the Categories of Special Education

Concerns about the definitions and identification criteria for special education categories, particularly learning disabilities, are a continuing subject of Abate in the profession. Vagueness in definitions and inconsistent criteria for learning disabilities have been said to hamper research and the delively of services, and to be partly responsible fm the tremenhus prevalence ratepwth of some categories. One measure considered by some to be an indication of these definition and identification problems is the variability of prevalence rates among states. Some have stated that prevalence rates are more variable fir the higher pvalence categories, such as learning disabilities, than for the low prevalence categories. This observation, however, h e s not take into account the effects of the size of the means on the variability. When this effect is contmlled for; the higher prevalence categories are no more variable as a pup than the lower ones; in fact the variability within some higher prevalence categories is the lowest of all. The possible reasons for and implications of these findings are discussed.

The effect of reinforcement and verbal rehearsal on selective attention in learning-disabled children

A central-incidental task of selective attention was administered to 100 learning-disabled boys — 48 younger children (81/2–101/2 years) and 52 older children (101/2–121/2 years). Subjects at both age levels were assigned to one of four conditions: (a) a standard condition; (b) a rehearsal condition, in which subjects were taught a verbal rehearsal strategy; (c) a reinforcement condition, in which correct responses were rewarded; and (d) a combined rehearsal-reinforcement condition. Older subjects recalled more central task but not more incidental task information than younger subjects. A measure of selective attention efficiency was also greater for older than for younger subjects. Central recall in the rehearsal-reinforcement condition was greater than in any other condition. Central recall was greater in the rehearsal condition than in the standard and reinforcement conditions. Selective attention efficiency was greater for both rehearsal conditions than for both nonrehearsal conditions. Incidental recall was higher for reinforcement subjects than for rehearsal subjects. Results suggest that induced verbal rehearsal improves central recall and selective attention in learning-disabled children. Reinforcement alone does not improve central recall but may when paired with rehearsal.

Developmental trends in recall of central and incidental auditory material

Abstract An auditory recall task, involving central and incidental stimuli and designed to correspond to that used in visual selective attention studies, was developed and presented to second-, fourth-, sixth-, and eighth-graders. There were significant differences in favor of older compared to younger Ss and girls compared to boys. In addition, Ss performed better when animals were the relevant and foods the irrelevant stimuli than vice versa. The nature of the developmental increase in auditory recall of central vs incidental stimuli demonstrated in this task was discussed in terms of developmental trends found in the visual modality. The sex differences and differences found for the animals vs foods condition were discussed with regard to differential short-term memory strategies.

School-Related Problems of Special Education Foster-Care Students with Emotional or Behavioral Disorders: A Comparison to Other Groups.

A high percentage of children in foster care receive special education services, but little is known about the academic and social problems found in this population. Searches of school archival records and brief interviews with school personnel were used to obtain measures of the school-related problems of four groups of students: those receiving both foster care and special education for emotional or behavioral disorders (FCED), foster care only (FC), special education only (ED), or neither (N). Group FCED was found to exhibit more school-related problems and Group N to exhibit fewer problems than the comparison groups; Groups FC and ED did not differ significantly. Suggestions for further research and implications for developing comprehensive, collaborative systems of care are discussed.

Effects of Imitation and Nonimitation on Children's Subsequent Imitative Behavior

Summary The purpose of this study was to determine the differential effects of imitating versus not imitating children on their subsequent tendency to imitate a model. Fifty-four kindergarten children matched on age and sex performed a simple three-choice task of feeding a “Cookie Monster.” There were four experimental conditions in which an adult female either imitated or did not imitate the childs performance and either verbalized or did not verbalize the sameness or difference of the adults and the childs responses. After being imitated or not imitated, each child was given opportunities to imitate models provided by the adult. A three-way analysis of variance (imitation-nonimitation × verbalization-nonverbalization × sex) revealed only one significant F, that for the main effect of imitation. Children who were imitated copied the adults models significantly more often than did children who were not imitated. The results are interpreted in the light of evidence that being imitated is reinforcing to...

Teaching/Learning: Quantitative and Functional Analysis of Educational Performance

JAMES M. KAUFFMAN, Ed.D. DANIEL P. HALLAHAN, Ph.D. JAMES S. PAYNE, Ed.D. DONALD W. BALL, Ed.D. University of Virginia Precise measurement of teaching and learning has long been an elusive goal of professional educators. Although teachers almost universally accept the notion that learning results in a change in student behavior, educators frequently have great difficulty in specifying precisely how learners will behave

Selective attention in cerebral palsied and normal children

Noninstitutionalized, educable retarded, spastic cerebral palsied children of two mental age (MA) levels were compared with normal MA controls on a task measuring selective attention and were not found deficient in selective attention. For both the cerebral palsied and the normals there was an increase in selective attention efficiency with an increase in MA. The results support the position that MA rather than chronological age or IQ is the important variable in determining selective attention performance. The results do not support the attention-deficit theory; they do support the argument that institutionalization has a negative affect on attention. The effects of brain damage and retardation on selective attention ability were discussed.