Training Impulsive Children in the Use of More Efficient Scanning Techniques

Abstract

EGELAND, BYRON. Training Impulsive Children in the Use of More Efficient Scanning Techniques. CHILD DEVELOPMENT, 1974, 45, 165-171. Impulsive second-grade, inner-city children were trained to improve their search strategies on match-to-sample visual discrimination exercises. A second group of impulsives, using the same materials, was taught to delay their responses. Both groups showed significant increases in response time and decreases in errors on the Matching Familiar Figures test given immediately after training. While the group trained to delay responses showed an increase in errors on a delayed posttest given 2 months after training, the group trained to improve search strategies continued to maintain a low level of error responses. A control group did not show any change in error or latency scores. Both training groups showed improved performance on the vocabulary subtest of the Gates-MacGinitie Reading Test, and the group trained to improve search strategies also showed improvement on the comprehension subtest.