ATTENTION IN NORMAL AND AT RISK PRESCHOOL CHILDREN

本提案旨在开展试点工作，为更大的项目做准备。 这项研究的一个目标是在实验室外的环境中检查学龄前儿童的注意力模式。 要做到这一点，就需要制定适合实地观察的新措施。 该项目的这一阶段将分步骤进行。 最初，一些孩子将在家里和他们的幼儿园被录像。 录像带将成为深入讨论编码系统和发展可靠的编码类别的基础。 然后，我们将回到现场，尝试编码系统，这将主要涉及一个清单和时间采样的儿童的行为沿着几个方面：注意力，活动水平，冲动，情绪基调，和社会能力。 我们将尽一切努力，让所有的孩子在类似的情况下，在几个场合;例如，结构化的活动在学前班，自由发挥在学前班，自由发挥在家里，吃饭时间在家里，看电视，看书。 这些重复的观察是必要的，因为该项目的另一个目标是探索作为个体差异衡量标准的情境概况的一致性。 该项目的第三个目标与为随后更大的项目制定的战略有关。 也就是说，观察学龄前儿童的父母谁有注意缺陷多动障碍。 有必要对声称被诊断患有注意缺陷多动障碍的成年人进行诊断性面谈。 然而，对于本提案，目标只是获得一些诊断性面试的经验，并确保在提交后续提案之前可以解决潜在的问题。

This proposal is to conduct pilot work in preparation for a larger project. One goal of the study is to examine patterns of attention in preschool children in settings outside the lab. To do this will require the development of new measures appropriate for field observation. This phase of the project will be conducted in steps. Initially, a few children will be videotaped at home and at their preschools. The videotapes will form the basis for extended discussion of a coding system and the development of reliable categories of coding. We will then go back to the field to try the coding system which will entail mainly a checklist and time sampling of the children's behavior along several dimensions: attention, activity level, impulsitivity, emotional tone, and social competence. We will make every attempt to see all of the children in similar contexts on several occasions; for example, structured activities in the preschool, free play in the preschool, free play at home, mealtime at home, watching television, and bookreading. These repeated observations are necessary because another goal of the project is to explore consistency of situational profiles as a measure of individual differences. A third goal of the project is related to the strategy intended for the larger subsequent project. That is, to observe preschool children of parents who have Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder. It will be necessary to use diagnostic interviewing of adults who claim to have been diagnosed with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder. For this proposal, however, the goal is simply to gain some experience with the diagnostic interview and the make sure that potential questions can be addressed before the submission of the subsequent proposal.