Sydney S Zentall

Purdue University | Purdue · Department of Educational Studies

Responses to art attention-training by English and bilingual Spanish-speaking students with and without ADHD. Studies in Art Education, 43, 158-174.

Hyperactive children have been characterized as being unable to inhibit extraneous activity in structured task contexts, ft has not been determined, however, whether it is the task or the structure that contributes to differences. In this study visual-motor performance was assessed for 15 hyperactive and 16 non hyperactive regular classroom childre...

There have been some behavioral indicators and some types of task performance that suggest greater creativity in students with attention deficit hyperactive disorder (ADHD). This evidence would appear counterintuitive given that lower working memory (i.e., holding information in mind for novel recombinations) has often been documented in students w...

From a social cognitive perspective, the social problems of children with hyperactivity could represent failure to attend to certain social cues. To assess the responses of 17 children with hyperactivity and 17 comparisons, 3 taped stories of social problems were presented.

Inservice education has the potential to provide teachers with knowledge and skills that are necessary to manage challenging classroom behavior and improve academic and social/ emotional outcomes. To assess the effectiveness of 3 inservice programs that focused on knowledge, understanding, and/or functional-assessment interventions, we identified 4...

Through advances in technology, educators will be able to provide school districts with opportunities to present the latest in researched-based inservice training at minimal costs to individual students. This article will compare factors in the literature associated with successful outcomes in distance education with our experiences providing an in...

Zentall, S., Grskovic, J.A., Javorsky, J., & Hall, A.M. (2000). Effects of noninformational color on the reading test performance of students with and without attentional deficits. Diagnostique, 25, 129-146. ABSTRACT: Students with attentional deficits are better able to maintain attention to tasks if novelty is added, especially during later trial...

With the revisions to DSM-IV, educational and clinical evaluation approaches to the diagnosis of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) will undergo significant changes. In this article we examine these changes and how schools may address assessment of ADHD and plan for instruction in light of these changes. A diagnosis of ADHD using DSM-I...

This study assessed the reading motivation of 133 students at individual grade levels (2nd–5th), who were divided in subgroups with and without reading disabilities/difficulties (RD) and with and without attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). Major findings were that students in the RD subgroup had lower reading motivation (intrinsic, ext...

Past research has failed to recognize motivation for its potential to produce instructional gains, especially for students with reading disabilities/difficulties (RD). To this purpose, a combined motivational intervention was administered to 80 second-grade through fifth-grade students in a randomized pretest–posttest control group design with thre...

The purpose of this study was to assess the effects of story novelty (active verbs, less familiar characters, vivid adjectives, and surprising story endings) on the reading comprehension of 48 seven- to 11-year-old boys without clinical diagnoses of learning disabilities. The optimal stimulation theory provided the basis of the study, predicting di...

The purpose of this theoretically-based study was to examine the effects of yellow-highlighting ‘relevant’ words and units within math word problems. Initial differences were documented between 10 girls at-risk for ADHD and 10 comparisons on the performance of group and individual assessments of math computations and word problems, as had previousl...

Children with mild disabilities experience sufficient failure to produce negative future expectations (goals), which may compound early academic and social deficits. This research compared the teacher- and student-rated goals of 57 children at two age levels, who were average learners, had a reading problem/disability (RP), and were hyperactive or...

Objective: The purpose of this review of students with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) was to summarize the following: (1) academic deficits in math and reading, (2) possible theoretical contributors to these deficits, and (3) psychostimulant interventions that target math and reading, as well as, parallel interventions involving s...

Past research has failed to recognize motivation for its potential to produce instructional gains, especially for students with reading disabilities/difficulties (RD). To this purpose, a combined motivational intervention was administered to 80 second- grade through fifth-grade students in a randomized pretest–posttest control group design with thr...

This study assessed the effects of providing social participation rules on the performance and social behavior of a school-based sample of 10–14-year-old students at risk for attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (n = 34) who worked cooperatively in same-gender triads with typical peers (n = 92). The design was primarily a 2 (population group) ×...

Cooperative learning has broad support as an instructional strategy to improve achievement. If the social behavior of students at risk for ADHD could be documented, cooperative groups could also provide a context for intervention. To this purpose, we observed 22 same-gender triads, with or without a member at risk for ADHD during problem-solving pe...

The purpose of this study was to identify the hyperactive, impulsive, social, and emotional characteristics of girls with symptoms of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). These characteristics could be used to increase the referral rates of these girls and provide implications for intervention. Parent and self-ratings of a school-based...

Students with attentional problems have difficulty in learning mathematics due to their inability to maintain attention on task. The current study proposed that using images during mathematics instruction would provide stimulation for students with characteristics of an attentional problem (ADHD-I and ADHD-C) and thereby enhance their attention and...

The abstract is on the first page of the ms.

The effects of reward schedule (100% and 30%) and extinction on attention (reaction time to auditory stimuli) and frustration levels (pressure exerted on a response key) of 15 adults with attentional disorders and 21 normal adults were examined using a continuous performance task. We predicted, that adults with attentional deficits would (a) perfor...

Providing choice to individual students with ADHD has previously been demonstrated to reduce undesirable behavior. However, prior research has failed to demonstrate gains that were greater than or independent of the contents of the task (difficulty or interests/preferences). In this study, we examined the differential effects of choice of auditory...

There is a significant overlap between attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and learning disability (LD) student populations. The inattentive subtype of students with ADHD, in particular, is difficult to differentiate from students with LD. What differentiates between these groups can be seen in their regulation of behavior and attention...

This article reviews factors that contribute to and improve selective and sustained attention in children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD—the inattentive and combined subtypes). A brief review of interventions for inattention included psychostimulant medication, behavioral consequences, active-learning, practice, and cognitive b...

The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of actively categorizing math problems on the math problem solving performance of students with and without attention deficit disorder (ADD). To this purpose, 52 fifth and sixth grade students were involved in actively categorizing or noncategorizing (control) tasks followed by two problem solvin...

This study assessed the impact of a class-wide time-out/re-directing strategy on (a) the frequency of teacher-assigned time-outs and (b) the time students spent in disciplinary sanctions. Twelve students with emotional/behavioral disorders, enrolled in a self-contained elementary classroom were taught an alternative time-out strategy (Active Respon...

This pilot study evaluated the effects of supplementation with PUFA on blood FA composition and behavior in children with Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (AD/HD)-like symptoms also reporting thirst and skin problems. Fifty children were randomized to treatment groups receiving either a PUFA supplement providing a daily dose of 480 mg DHA,...

In this study we examined the association between teacher practices and the task-appropriate behavior of students with behavioral disorders (BD). We collected direct observational data on general educators and on matched pairs of middle school students with and without BD. We found that teachers' use of student-centered practices (e.g., cooperative...

Two studies evaluated the effects of within-task and competing visual stimulation on the mathematics performance and behavior of 17 children, ages 8 to 14, with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). In the first study, students with ADHD were exposed to both high and low within-task stimulation during a simple mathematics task. Results s...

This study was designed to assess attention and the art preference ratings by Spanish-speaking (S-S) bilingual students and of English-speaking children with and without attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). To this purpose we presented slides of representational, semi-abstract, and abstract paintings by notable artists to 2nd through 5t...

The effects of verbal interference and strategy instruction on recall of visual and auditory material were assessed in children with and without attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (AD/HD). Children were randomly assigned to a strategy instruction or to a control group and (a) completed two sets (four administrations) of the Learning Efficienc...

From a social cognitive perspective, the social problems of children with hyperactivity could represent failure to attend to certain social cues. To assess the responses of 17 children with hyperactivity and 17 comparisons, 3 taped stories of social problems were presented. The children were asked to identify the social problem, predict what would...

During a health supervision visit, the father of a 7.5-year-old African American second-grader asked about his son's progress in reading. He was concerned when, at a recent teacher-parent conference to review Darren's progress, the teacher remarked that Darren was not keeping up with reading skills compared with others in his class. She said that h...

This study compared the academic and learning characteristics of students with (a) Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (AD/HD), (b) giftedness, and (c) giftedness with AD/HD, and examines specific a priori questions. The information reported by teachers, parents, and children was analyzed with a multiple-case design with constant comparative p...

The purpose of this multiple case study was to investigate the emotional and social characteristics of boys who had co-occurring giftedness and AD/HD as compared with boys with only 1 of the 2 exceptionalities. The participants were 3 boys with AD/HD and giftedness and 6 comparison boys with only 1 of the 2 exceptionalities. Data sources included t...

This study assessed the naturalistic conditions that set the occasion for aggressive behavior in three preschoolers with hyperactivity and aggression (H/A). Peer and teacher responses to preschoolers' aggression were also investigated. For a total of 114 aggressive instances observed, relatively low percentages of aggression in social play with at...

We studied the effects of a Learning Station on the completion and accuracy of math homework of middle school students who had chronic homework problems. The Learning Station was a three sided free-standing panel with theoretically and empirically-based components involving (a) stimulation (color, music, activity breaks, and choice) and (b) self-at...

Parents report their preschoolers' excessive activity and inattention as early as age two. Unfortunately, most reports and ratings involve global assessments collapsed across settings. Research has not investigated specific behavior as a function of play, TV, meals, and sleep settings for preschool children. To this end, fifty-six preschoolers (age...

Mirrors have been used to focus attention to aspects of the self (e.g., to known strategies, standards). We hypothesized that this could be important for students with hyperactivity/inattention, who typically direct attention outward to external novelty. In this study, we administered a partially solvable word puzzle to 43 middle school students, w...

Through advances in technology, educators will be able to provide school districts with opportunities to present the latest in researcb-based inservice training at minimal costs to individual students. This article will compare factors in the literature associated with successful outcomes in distance education with our experiences providing an inse...

This study investigated the different characteristics of nine fourth-grade boys, three boys with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), three boys with giftedness, and three boys with ADHD and giftedness. Information reported by teachers, parents, and the children were analyzed using an embedded, multiple-case design, with constant compar...

The effects of color on the reading recognition and comprehension of 3 students with learning disabilities and attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder were assessed in a single-subject design. Color did not enhance sight-word learning; for longer reading comprehension tasks, color had an immediate effect across and within sessions.

The purpose of the study reported here was to compare behavior, learning, and health problems in boys ages 6 to 12 with lower plasma phospholipid total omega-3 or total omega-6 fatty acid levels with those boys with higher levels of these fatty acids. A greater frequency of symptoms indicative of essential fatty acid deficiency was reported by the...

Although parental behaviour and attitudes have been assessed for their contribution to disordered child behaviour, little research has examined child‐rearing practices. Child‐rearing practices may be more amenable to change than attitudes, while being more inclusive than specific behaviour. This study assessed child‐rearing practices and attitudes...

Attention-deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (AD/HD) is the diagnosis used to describe children who are inattentive, impulsive, and hyperactive. AD/HD is the most common childhood behavioral disorder affecting 3 to 5 percent of the scnool-age population. In most children with AD/HD, the cause is unknown, but is thought to be multifactorial. In an earli...

Attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is the term used to describe children who are inattentive, impulsive, and hyperactive. The cause is unknown and is thought to be multifactorial. Based on the work of others, we hypothesized that some children with ADHD have altered fatty acid metabolism. The present study found that 53 subjects with A...

Students with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), with aggression (H/A) and without aggression (H), and their classmates without disability were observed during play before and after watching taped interactions between a normal peer and a child with H/A. In one of the videotapes, the peer responded loudly to the aggressive behavior and...

In this study we sought to examine differences among groups of elementary students with and without disabilities on a measure of time estimation. We assessed the time estimation recall of 51 students with and without emotional handicaps, learning disabilities, and attentional disorders and examined the relationship between time estimation and the s...

This study examined family characteristics of preschoolers with hyperactivity. We assessed child-rearing practices, maternal depression, marital conflict, and social support. Sixty-three preschool boys were placed in a hyperactivity-aggressive, hyperactive, aggressive or comparison group based on behavioral ratings. Parents were given questionnaire...

The purpose of this study was to assess the accommodation practices and preferences of general, special, and resource educators for working with students with AD/HD. Participants included 129 teachers representing 10 schools. Findings indicated that full-time special educators tried and succeeded with more accommodations than general educators, who...

We assessed the academic performance and behavior of 121 nondisabled elementary boys and 107 boys with attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), ages 7.4 through 14.5 years. Students completed computer-generated tasks of reading, computation, and math problem solving, and we recorded two performance measures (accuracy and speed) and three be...

Disorganization characterizes children with attention deficit hyperactive disorder (ADHD) and appears to contribute to their failure to complete school and homework tasks. However, the empirical data in this area are virtually nonexistent. A practical measure was needed as an initial step in this direction. Thus, an organizational scale was develop...

An analysis was made of a basic skill deficit and collateral behavior that could differentiate youth with hyperactivity from children with both hyperactivity and aggression. A total of 92 boys (with hyperactivity, with hyperactivity and aggression, and without disorders) were assessed for their timed performance and accuracy of computer-generated m...

This article summarizes the major academic problems of students with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and addresses the extent to which these problems are secondary to ADHD, rather than a part of a co-occurring learning or cognitive disability. The article delineates the academic problems of students with ADHD in relation to their pr...

The mathematical achievement of youth with learning disabilities, attention deficit disorders, and attention-deficit hyperactive disorders is lower than that of their peers. Cognitive ability (including memory) and reading contribute to the comprehension skills needed to eliminate extraneous information, handle multiple operations, and transform ve...

Mathematical achievement of youth with learning disabilities, attention deficit disorders, and attention-deficit hyperactive disorders is lower than that of their peers. Cognitive ability (including memory) and reading contribute to the comprehension skills needed to eliminate extraneous information, handle multiple operations, and transform verbal...

The present study determined whether hyperactive youth, as a group, would report greater preference for stimulation than nonhyperactive youth. This would validate prior work documenting improved performance for hyperactive children under conditions of increased stimulation. To this purpose 114 and 133 nonhyperactive (2nd through 7th grades) were ad...

Learning disabled, attention-disordered, and normal adolescents were assessed with 2 performance measures and 3 behavioral measures, recorded while the Ss worked on math problems. Differences were found between the combined experimental and comparison groups in retrieval speed for each operation, but not in accuracy. Off-task attention contributed...

This study examined the behavioral differences among liked and disliked hyperactive children and their normal peers during joint activities. 25 hyperactive children and 39 normal control subjects were selected and observed in high- and low-structured play settings (counterbalanced for order) in one of 3 dyadic groupings (10 liked hyperactive childr...

Nonrelevant color stimulation has been used to normalize the sustained attentional performance and activity of hyperactive children. In this study we hypotheszed that if sustained attention is also required in tasks that assess impulsivity, similar gains from color could be expected. To this purpose, hyperactive and normal second- and third- grade...

Hyperactive children were predicted to attend more readily to tasks where color was added than were normal comparison children. If color were added to relevant cues in a spelling task, this attentional selectivity could produce improved performance. Alternatively, there was evidence to suggest that adding an additional dimension (color) to the earl...

Setting and task conditions were assessed for their effects on the language of hyperactive children. Verbal data were recorded for 22 hyperactive children and 22 elementary-age controls during four storytelling tasks and transitions, and under two conditions of a nonverbal performance task in a counterbalanced order. Findings were that hyperactive...

The optimal stimulation theory proposes that attention disordered hyperactive children are less tolerant than their normal peers of rote, minimally stimulating tasks and thus should more readily attend to color added to such tasks. Due to this attentional selectivity, color added to relevant features should produce improved performance especially f...

The present study examines the hypothesis that motor responses added into rote tasks would modulate the sensation-seeking activity and impulsive errors of hyperactive (ADD-H) children. To this purpose 22 ADD-H and 25 comparison children were administered two repetitive tasks (word decoding and an auditory vigilance task) under both an active respon...

The area of behavioral disabilities is broad because of the range of disorders that have been identified. Therefore, differentiating among these disorders and identifying disordered children as being different from normals require a more extensive description of characteristics than would be necessary in other disability areas. The characteristics...

When children are rated for hyperactivity, scores have been reported to decline on the second rating, especially when the time between ratings is short. Milich, Roberts, Loney, and Caputo (1980) have suggested that this “practice effect” can be attributed to statistical regression towards the mean, although evidence from their study does not suppor...

The present study involved a theoretically based investigation to determine whether the problems that hyperactive children experience in listening could be attributed to (a) delays that encourage impulsive responding or (b) factors related to the nature of the stimulus input. Hyperactive and normal elementary school children were administered four...

Conducted a theoretically based investigation of color stimulation effects on hyperactivity. Moderating variables likely to be important in investigating these effects were identified as the nature of the task (learning and sustained attention), task factors that could provide changes in level of stimulation (task exposure, temporal placement of ad...

Conducted a theoretically based investigation of color stimulation effects on hyperactivity. Moderating variables likely to be important in investigating these effects were identified as the nature of the task (learning and sustained attention), task factors that could provide changes in level of stimulation (task exposure, temporal placement of ad...

The optimal stimulation theory proposes that hyperactive children are less tolerant of lower levels of arousal than nonhyperactive children and should thus derive greater gains from stimulation added to repetitive copying tasks than do comparisons. To test this hypothesis, 16 adolescents, rating high on attention and behavior problems, were matched...

Addressed in this article are the identification, differential diagnosis, and treatment evaluation of emotionally disturbed preschoolers. Specific disorders and differentiating behavior were defined (a) within a broad normative context to provide for generality in reporting assessment data to other professionals and (b) within specific settings to...

Added stimulation, both biochemical and environmental, has been used to improve the sustained attention but less frequently the search-attention performance of hyperactive children. In the present study a search task was used that differed from sustained-attention tasks only in an additional requirement for visual scanning. The performance of hyper...

Hyperactive children have been characterized as being unable to inhibit extraneous activity in structured task contexts. It has not been determined, however, whether it is the task or the structure that contribute to differences. In this study visual-motor performance was assessed for 15 hyperactive and 16 nonhyperactive regular classroom children...

It was proposed that parents of hyperactive children would observe more problems at home in some but not all home contexts. To test this hypothesis, parents of teacher-identified hyperactive and nonhyperactive children were asked to complete a context-specific behavioral rating scale ( Werry , 1968). Hyperactive children were rated by their parents...

According to the optimal stimulation theory, hyperactive children suffer from insufficient arousal, expecially in contexts that provide minimal stimulation. In the present study hyperactive children were predicted to perform worse than controls on tasks requiring attention to detailed information because utilization of detailed cues requires narrow...

There is considerable evidence that organisms can moderate incoming sensory stimulation to more closely approach optimal levels of arousal. When normal individuals are exposed to unusually high or low sensory input, they tend to show "disordered" behavior similar to that of certain chronically disordered populations, for example, hyperactive and au...

Examined (1) whether delayed-response tasks would precipitate increased activity and verbalization similar to the types of behavioral increases observed in low-stimulation classroom contexts, (2) the relationship between verbal and nonverbal activity for hyperactive and nonhyperactive children, and (3) the preeminence of verbal or nonverbal activit...

There is considerable evidence that organisms can moderate incoming sensory stimulation so as to more closely approach optimal levels of arousal. When normal individuals are exposed to unusually high or low sensory input they tend to show "disordered" behavior similar to that of certain chronically disordered populations, for example, hyperactive a...

This article briefly reviews the psychotropic drugs, and discusses their effects, and applicability to different types of children. The major focus is on the preacademic behavior that differentiates young (3–6 years) hyperactive children from nonhyperactive children. Evidence indicates that stimulants are less useful for young children and they pre...

A theoretical integration of research concerned with environmental variables and their effects on students’ behavior and performance is presented. The impact of classroom stimuli, such as novelty, color, noise, proximity to teacher and peers on both normal and exceptional children is reviewed. The relations between these sources of classroom stimul...

Two experiments assessed the effects of task-overlapping linguistic noise (ambient noise including conversations) on activity and performance of 24 hyperactive and 24 control children. High and low levels of linguistic classroom noise were each presented while Ss were performing tasks requiring auditory processing of information in a repeated-measu...

Matched pairs of hyperactive and normally active children were observed in six natural classroom settings and a number of specific behaviors continuously recorded. Both groups of children showed differences in behavior as a function of settings (selected to vary in amount of external stimulation and structure), but only certain settings differentia...

Treatment for disordered child behavior has neglected investigations of antecedent stimuli by focusing almost exclusively on behavioral consequences. However, the study of antecedent stimuli (e.g., environmental stimulation) may provide not only a behavioral means of investigating the biological basis of disordered behavior, but also an understandi...

Rating scales have become the instrument of choice in labeling and assessing change in behavior of hyperactive children. However, several criticisms have recently have levied against their use. The present investigation examined the concurrent validity, and inter- and intrarater reliability for the Abbreviated Teacer Questionnaire (ATQ, Conners, 19...

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...

The effects of increased environmental stimulation on the performance of hyperactive children appear to depend on the locus of that stimulation. Laboratory research has suggested that increased distal and peripheral stimulation reduce activity and may improve performance; the effects of increased within-task stimulation have not been conclusive. Th...

The effects of increased environmental stimulation on the performance of hyperactive children appear to depend on the locus of that stimulation. Laboratory research has suggested that increased distal and peripheral stimulation reduce activity and may improve performance; the effects of increased within-task stimulation have not been conclusive. Th...

Educational management of the hyperactive child is primarily directed toward reduction of environmental stimulation. Although social consensus is high regarding the use of this management technique, empirical support is lacking. An alternative theory is presented that is based on the homeostatic assumption that the hyperactive child is actually und...

11 hyperactive 7-11 yr olds in a high-stimulation environment were significantly less active and performed an academically related task no more poorly than when placed in a low-stimulation environment. Results reject the theory that for hyperactive children activity varies directly and performance inversely with amount of environmental stimulation....

It is suggested that the so-called paradoxical calming or depressant effects of amphetamine on hyperactive children can be accounted for by the proposition that amphetamines increase arousal when the initial arousal level is low but decrease arousal when the initial level is high. (Author)

Hyperactive children in a high-stimulation environment were significantly less active and performed in academically related task no worse than when placed in a low-stimulation environment. The results reject the theory that for hyperactive children activity varies directly and performance inversely with amount of environmental stimulation. Understi...

Current theory and practice in the clinical and educational management of hyperactive children recommend reduction of environmental stimulation, assuming hyperactive and distractable behaviors to be due to overstimulation. This paper reviews research suggesting that hyperactive behavior may result from a homeostatic mechanism that functions to incr...