Televised classroom events as distractors for reading-disabled children

Abstract

Three experiments examined the influence of videotaped classroom events on the academic performance and study behavior of reading-disabled and normally reading children in grades 1 through 6. In experiments 1 and 2a an experimenter-controlled presentation of these distractors resulted in performance decrements, the magnitude of which was greater for higher difficulty tasks. The distractor effects were similar for the two groups in this condition. However, when the children themselves were allowed to control their degree of exposure to the same distractors in experiment 2b, the reading-disabled children were less likely to act to escape the distraction. Results are discussed in terms of children's metacognitive awareness of distraction, and implications for the classroom are considered.

Where Do Children Study?

“…The initial development of item wording and response alternatives was based on recommendations made by school district personnel, or were adapted from previous research (Lyle & Hoffman, 1972;Patton , Routh & Offenbach, 1981). Final wording and presentation order were set following a pilot administration of the questionnaire to 24 fifth grade students.…”

“…Studies usi ng systematic observation of children in classroom settings have indicated that distractibility there may occur more frequently among students who have learning problems (Routh, 1979). Nevertheless, 20 years of distraction research, carried out with normal and special populations of children under controlJed laboratory conditions, has yielded an array of confusing, ambiguous findings which so far have been of little practical use to educators (Patton , Routh & Offenbach, 1981).…”

“…Recent investigation has shown that distraction is neither a simple nor a static phenomenon. The direction and magnitude of distraction effects, for example, will vary for individuals with changes in task attributes (Patton, Routh, & Offenbach, 1981) and with different distractors (Pelham, 1979). Moreover, research concerned with what children understand about their own attentional processes (i.e .…”

“…Moreover, research concerned with what children understand about their own attentional processes (i.e . , "meta-attention") indicates that they are not necessarily "passive victims" of distraction; that they do, in fact, think about and act upon distractors (e.g., to avoid them or, in some cases, to intensify them; Patton, Routh, & Offenbach, 1981).…”

Can an Advance Organizer Technique Compensate for Poor Reading Conditions?

“…Experiments investigating the effects of different types of distraction during study have not always supported the distraction hypothesis (e.g., Doleys, 1976;Patton, Routh, & Offenbach, 1981). Experiment 2 investigated the possibility that certain distracting study conditions not unusual in a college environment would be a detriment to iearning.…”