Attentional Training in Children

Author:

Henry, Lindsey Mary

Area of Honors:

Communication Sciences and Disorders

Degree:

Bachelor of Science

Document Type:

Thesis

Thesis Supervisors:

Dr. Elina Mainela Arnold, Thesis Supervisor
Dr. Elina Mainela Arnold, Thesis Supervisor
Dr. Carol Anne Miller, Thesis Honors Advisor

Keywords:

attentional training

Abstract:

The study examined the link between attention and language production in preschool and school-age children. The participants consisted of ten children, differing in age (three to twelve) and language abilities. These participants were recruited from day cares, pre-schools, and schools in and surrounding the State College area. For the purpose of this study, only eight of these participants were evaluated; there were five males and three females. The mean age of these participants was seven years, two months. To test the link between attention and language production, the Expressive Vocabulary Test (EVT), Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test (PPVT), and Color-object Stroop Test were administered to the participants. The participants’ results on these tasks illustrated that there was a correlation between the PPVT and EVT and the Color-Object interference effect. This correlation was stronger for the EVT than PPVT. These results may implicate that the attention and inhibition processes surrounding the interference effect may be affected by an individual’s vocabulary size; alternatively, these results may show that vocabulary size is affected by the processes of attention and inhibition.