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Distraction as a Function of Within-Task Stimulation for Hyperactive and Normal Children

Sydney S. Zentll is an associate professor of special education at Eastern Kentucky University. Before taking this position she was an assitant professor at the University of Pittsburgh where she received her PhD. Dr. Zentall is currently attempting to identify the mechanism underlying hyperactivity and determine appropriate educational procedures for treatment. Requests for reprints should be sent to Dr. Sydney S. Zentall, Department of Special Education, Eastern Kentucky University, Richmond, Ky. 40475.

Thomas R. Zentali, PhD

Thomas R. Zentali received his PhD from the University of California at Berkeley and after teaching at the University of Pittsburgh joined the faculty of the Department of Psychology at the University of Kentucky, where he is now an associate professor.

Robin C. Barack, MEd

Robin S. Barack received her MEd degree from the University of Pittsburgh Department of Special Education and is currently a therapeutic educator at the Pittsburgh Child Guidance Center and a clinical instructor in the Division of Child Psychiatry, Department of Psychiatry, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine.

Research indicates that increased distal and especially peripheral environmental stimulation does not distract the hyperactive child but may actually have a facilitative effect on performance. Increased within-task stimulation, however, has been found to be disruptive, but these studies have generally confounded increased stimulation with increased task complexity (by increasing the number of competing cues). The present study sought to assess task performance of hyperactive and normal children with and without within-task color, holding task complexity constant. Using a repeated-measures design performance was measured on four tasks: two visual-motor drawing tasks, one visual-concentration task, and a combined visual-motor and visual-concentration task. Error analyses indicated generally poorer performance by hyperactives than by normals, and contrary to prediction, on two of the tasks hyperactives performed better without color than with. Hyperactives tended to perform faster than normals on the visual-motor tasks but performed slower than normals on tasks involving visual concentration. Implications of results and related evidence suggest (1) locus of added stimulation may be important in determining effects on performance, and (2) impulsivity or response speed may be unrelated to performance problems of hyperactive children.

Journal of Learning Disabilities, Vol. 11, No. 9, 540-548 (1978)
DOI: 10.1177/002221947801100903


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