Doctoral Dissertations

Date of Award

3-1984

Degree Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Philosophy

Major

Education

Major Professor

C. A. Wrisberg

Committee Members

Wendell Liemohn, Pat Beitel, Stephen Handel, Edward Howley

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to examine under two conditions of response pacing, the selective attention abilities of hyperactive (H), hyperactive-learning disabled (HLD), learning disabled (LD), and nondisabled (ND) groups using Signal Detection Analysis. A secondary objective was to determine whether differences in response latencies existed for the four groups. Sixty males, (5 each at ages 8, 9, & 10 years) from area schools served as subjects for the study. The visual stimulus, presented tachistoscopically, consisted of a group of red dots which formed the body of a triangle with additional dots along the periphery or embedded in the triangle functioning as cue(s). For the self-paced response condition the subject initiated each trial. Upon presentation of the slide, the subject depressed the appropriate telegraph key (designated "yes" if he thought cue(s) were presented or "no" if he thought no cue(s) were evidenced. Reaction time (RT) was measured from the moment the slide appeared until the subject lifted his finger to respond "yes" or "no." Response time was measured from the moment the slide appeared until the depression of either response key. For both pacing conditions, subjects received four blocks of twenty-eight trials with a one minute rest between blocks. In the forced-paced condition the subject rested his dominant hand between the two response keys, and made a response upon stimulus presentation. The rate of presentation was one every 2.1 seconds; the duration of each stimulus was 0.1 second. The percentage of hits and false alarms, as well as i' (i.e., sensitivity) and B (i.e., response criterion) were calculated for all subjects for self-paced trials, forced-paced trials, and for the total of all trials. In addition, RT and movement time (MT) were recorded for the self-paced trials. The most noteworthy finding of the study was that the signal detection performance for the H and ND groups were not significantly different. The results indicated significant differences in the performance of HLD and ND groups on all measures. The findings suggest that the presence of learning disabilities adversely affects the selective attention ability of children and the combination of hyperactivity and learning disabilities magnifies the severity of selective attention deficits.

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