Attentional aspects of classroom behavior and discrimination learning

Teacher's ratings of their mentally handicapped pupils' classroom behavior were examined as correlates of the child's performance on a discrimination learning task. Teachers completed the 23-item version of the Attention/Distraction Inhibition/Excitation Classroom Assessment Scale (ADIECAS) for a total of 77 pupils. Factors identified as attention/distractibility and responsivity to consequences correlated significantly with number of errors and number of trials to criterion during acquisition of a simultaneous visual discrimination. Attention/distractibility scores also correlated significantly with number of dimensions “attended to” during discrimination learning.