Text in Afrikaans / The primary aim of this investigation was to compile guidelines to improve the concentration techniques of primary school sport participants. In order to achieve this goal, a theoretical as well as an empirical investigation were conducted. During the literature study, different aspects of concentration were analyzed and the role of the primary school coach was highlighted in each instance. The literature study indicated that the primary school sport participants’ sport experience would benefit, if the primary sport participants would use concentration techniques during their sport participation. During the empirical study (in which 61 primary school sport participants participated), it was indicated that • Most of the primary school sport participants had very little exposure to concentration techniques. • Self talk, as a concentration technique, was used by most of the participants. The Here-and-Now concentration technique was the least used concentration technique by the participants. The literature study as well as the empirical study indicated that there are guidelines that primary school participants can use in order to better their concentration techniques. / Die primêre doel van hierdie ondersoek was om riglyne saam te stel wat laerskoolsportbeoefenaars kan help om beter te konsentreer gedurende hulle sportdeelname. Ten einde hierdie doel te bereik, isʼn teoretiese sowel as ʼn empiriese ondersoek uitgevoer. Tydens die teoretiese ondersoek is verskillende aspekte van konsentrasie ontleed, waarin die rol van die laerskoolafrigter telkens toegelig is. Die teoretiese ondersoek het aangetoon dat die laerskoolsportbeoefenaars se sportbelewenis daarby sou baat indien die laerskoolsportbeoefenaars konsentrasietegnieke gedurende hulle sportdeelname sou gebruik. Volgens die empiriese ondersoek (waaraan 61 proefpersone deelgeneem het) is aangetoon dat: • Die meerderheid laerskoolsportbeoefenaars baie min bloot gestel word aan konsentrasietegnieke. • Selfspraak, as konsentrasietegniek, was die meeste gebruik, terwyl die Hier-en- Nou konsentrasietegniek die minste gebruik is deur die proefpersone. Die teoretiese sowel as die empiriese ondersoek het aangetoon dat daar wel riglyne is wat gevolg kan word om die laerskoolsportbeoefenaars te help om hulle konsentrasietegnieke te verbeter. / Educational Studies / M.Ed. (Voorligting)

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The ability to shield against distraction while focusing on a task requires the operation of executive functions and is essential for successful learning. We investigated the short-term dynamics of distraction control in a data set of 269 children aged 4– 10 years and 51 adults pooled from three studies using multilevel models. Participants performed a visual categorization task while a task-irrelevant sequence of sounds was presented which consisted of frequently repeated standard sounds and rarely interspersed novel sounds. On average, participants responded slower in the categorization task after novel sounds. This distraction effect was more pronounced in children. Throughout the experiment, the initially strong distraction effects declined to the level of adults in the groups of 6- to 10-year-olds. Such a decline was neither observed in the groups of the 4- and 5-year-olds, who consistently showed a high level of distraction, nor in adults, who showed a constantly low level of distraction throughout the experimental session. Results indicate that distraction control is a highly dynamic process that qualitatively and quantitatively differs between age groups.We conclude that the analysis of short-term dynamics provides valuable insights into the development of attention control and might explain inconsistent findings regarding distraction control in middle childhood. In addition, models of attention control need to be refined to account for age-dependent rapid learning mechanisms. Our findings have implications for the design of learning situations and provide an additional source of information for the diagnosis and treatment of children with attention deficit disorders.

This study investigated the effects of task pacing on the cognitive performance of ADD/WO (n=8), ADD/H (n=l0), and normal control (n=l2) children on a continuous processing task (CPT). In the CPT, each child was exposed to fast (500ms), medium (l0O0ms), slow (2000mS), and self-paced conditions. Performance was measured as number of omission errors, number of commission errors, number of specific types of commission errors, reaction time, and rate of self-pacing. The ADD/H group had a significantly slower mean RT than the normal control group. However, groups did not differ on omission or commission errors, and there were no group by pacing condition or group by (non-target) sequence interactions. Reasons for the appearance of group differences on mean RT without group differences on accuracy are discussed in terms of subject and task characteristics. / Master of Science

The problem of this study was a comparison of young children's intensity of task—involvement in child—selected activities. A group of 23 children, four to six years of age, was selected as the subjects from a university affiliated child development laboratory school. These children were observed during child-selected activities for five consecutive weeks. The instrument utilized to collect the data was the Intensity Of Involvement Scale, composed of seven categories of intensity from "Unoccupied" to "Complete." To obtain reliable data, two observers were involved in the observation and a carefully planned procedure of observation was followed accurately. The comparison of children's intensity of task-involvement among child-selected activities, using statistical methods of mean and standard deviation, yielded a similar result among various groups of children. The learning centers in which children were involved most intensely were water play, family living, manipulative, and art centers. The children, however, were involved in the reading, block, and writing centers less intensely. In comparing children's intensity of task-involvement between age-groups and sex-groups, the analyses of two-way t-test revealed that age-differences were significant (p<.05) but sex-differences were not significant in children's overall intensity of task-involvement. Also, the results showed that the significance of differences in children's intensity of task-involvement in each child-selected activity depended more upon the age than the sex of children. In addition, individual differences in children's intensity of task-involvement were examined using mean, frequency distribution, and range. The finding was that children differed from one another in their degrees and variability of intensity of task-involvement in child-selected activities.

Children have been shown to be particularly vulnerable to the effects of chronic exposure to noise and also aircraft noise. Children attending schools in the vicinity of airports have shown cognitive impairments in reading comprehension, different aspects of memory and attention. This cross-sectional study forms part of a larger longitudinal study conducted at schools in the vicinity of an airport in Durban, South Africa, that was decommissioned and moved. The aim was to investigate the effects of chronic exposure to aircraft noise on children’s memory and attention before the moving of the airport. A purposive sample of 834 grade 5 and 6 learners from 5 schools in noisy and quiet areas near the airport were assessed on aspects of episodic memory, working memory, prospective memory and attention with standardised tests in a classroom context. Performance on working memory and one aspect of episodic memory was significantly better in the group exposed to noise. Prospective memory functioning was significantly better in the quiet group. These results, which to some extent unexpected, may prove important in understanding the effects of chronic noise on different aspects of memory functioning. The results and their implications are discussed in relation to previous studies and theories on the effects of noise on memory functioning.

Attention is a complex ability, which significantly contributes to the process of intentional learning. On the theoretical level, this thesis focuses on the types and theories of attention related to the effective management of school demands. More specifically, it focuses on the development period of older school age and adolescence, i. e. secondary school pupils. The paper analyzes the results of scientific studies that have been focused on the research of attention and its properties (e.g. stability, concentration or selectivity). The work is focused on examining whether a low-cost compensation aid - here earplugs - can improve concentration and stability of attention during learning. Furthermore, the work briefly mentions the physiological basis of the functioning of this cognitive process. The conclusion of the theoretical part of the paper maps the current possibilities of diagnostics of attention, especially in children and adolescents. There are also sporadic mentions of selected attention disorders (e.g. ADD, ADHD), which are closely related (not only) to learning. In the empirical part of the thesis, a quantitative research is described, using several different tests of attention. The research question is whether and how the attention (concentrating) and, where appropriate, the...

Thesis (MA (Psychology))--University of Stellenbosch, 2005. / Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) is a serious disorder that effects approximately 5% of South African children. Teachers are seen as one of the most valuable sources of information with regard to referral and diagnosis of ADHD. They also have the responsibility for creating an environment conducive to academic, social and emotional success for children with ADHD. However as there is some doubt as to whether teachers have the appropriate knowledge of ADHD to fulfil this important role, this study aimed at assessing the knowledge and misperceptions of ADHD of primary school teachers in towns on the periphery of the Cape Town Metropole.