This study compared two methods of intervention in a test-teach-test (dynamic) assessment with 43 special needs preschool children who were demonstrating a variety of language, behavioral, and learning difficulties. The Children's Analogical Thinking Modifiability Test (Tzuriel & Klein, 1987), a dynamic assessment instrument, was administered to two groups of nonrandomly assigned children in four phases: baseline, pretest, teaching, and posttest. During the teaching phase, 21 children received instruction that was contingent upon their particular difficulties and that emphasized the acquisition of generalizable strategies. The remaining 16 children received prescripted, noncontingent instruction when they required assistance. Group composition and pretest performance were found to be nearly identical. Results indicated that the group receiving contingent, individualized instruction (referred to as mediation) performed significantly better on the posttest, while the performance of the group receiving prescripted instruction remained unchanged. Two components of the mediation procedure, specific feedback about performance as compared with general feedback and justification of the process required for solution, were proposed as critical variables for improving the performance of special needs children during dynamic assessment.

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2 methods of varying presentation rate during paired associate learning were contrasted in attention deficit disordered (ADD) children. Previous studies have varied presentation rate across different (fixed rate) lists, and they have demonstrated that ADD children perform poorly at slower rates. In the present study, this method of presentation was contrasted with one in which half the items within a single list were presented at a fast rate and half at a slow rate. The debilitating effect of the slow rate was obtained in ADD children (but not in normal controls) only with the fixed list method. This finding suggests that the rate effects occur in ADD children because they are vulnerable to the experimental context created when items are presented at a slow rate over an extended time period.

2 methods of varying presentation rate during paired associate learning were contrasted in attention deficit disordered (ADD) children. Previous studies have varied presentation rate across different (fixed rate) lists, and they have demonstrated that ADD children perform poorly at slower rates. In the present study, this method of presentation was contrasted with one in which half the items within a single list were presented at a fast rate and half at a slow rate. The debilitating effect of the slow rate was obtained in ADD children (but not in normal controls) only with the fixed list method. This finding suggests that the rate effects occur in ADD children because they are vulnerable to the experimental context created when items are presented at a slow rate over an extended time period.