During the past 80 years, similar descriptions of a hyperactive behavior pattern in children have appeared in medical, educational, and psychological literature. Hyperactivity has been conceptualized as a character disorder, an organic disorder, and, most recently, as a behavior disorder. In this study, hyperactivity was explained in interactional terms, using Rotter's social learning theory of personality. Little consideration has been given in research to the influence of an abnormally high activity level upon personality development during childhood. The purpose of this study was to investigate the general influence of negative interactions associated with hyperactivity upon the organization of four personality constructs: locus of control, self-esteem, trait anxiety, and state anxiety.

"The problem of this study is to determine whether the hobbies of the fourth and fifth grade boys of the public schools in Denton, Texas, are contributing to their social needs. It is believed that the intangible attributes of living, which can be mearsured neither by rule nor square, make for the well-rounded, happy, social, individual, whether he be adult or child. The degree to which an individual is adjusted socially ranges from the completely anti-social type to the fully-integrated type. The reasons for this gradation are numerous. They include the influence of the home, the school, and the playmates, as well as other factors in the general environment of the child. The purpose of this investigation is to discover whether the hobbies of the boys under consideration are potential and actual forces for integration and socialization."--leaf 1.