Procedures for Ameliorating Attentional deficits of Retarded Children through Instructional Media Design

Abstract

Although attentional deficits have long been viewed as a primary contributing factor to mental retardation, little evidence exists which suggests that this characteristic has been considered in the development of instructional media for the retarded. A classification scheme is proposed as a structure for conducting research and evaluating the use of attention-influencing devices in instructional media for the retarded. Two exploratory studies were conducted to determine the impact of two attention-influencing devices on the attention of retarded children to visual stimuli. The results of these studies suggest that an arrow may be an effective attention-influencing device when used with a simple memory task or with older students, while the use of contrast (i.e., outlining a target object boldly) is more effective when used with a more complex recall memory task.