Visual Search in Learning Disabled and Hyperactive Boys

Abstract

Ross (1976) has suggested that a deficit in selective attention is characteristic of learning disabled children but not hyperactive children. In the present study, this suggestion was tested using a visual search paradigm that required LD, LDH, H, and normal control boys to search for a target letter embedded within an array of noise letters. Two variations of this basic paradigm were included-one involving a simultaneous search for four possible target letters; the other involving a physical dissimilarity between the target and noise letters. The time required for the subject to find the target letter was the dependent variable. Results indicated the latencies of the LD and LDH boys were significantly longer than those of their controls; the latencies of the hyperactive boys were not longer than those of their controls. Thus, Ross' suggestion was supported.