Abstract

It was hypothesized that the effects of feedback in hyperactive group would differ from that in non-hyperactive group according to the extent of attentional demand. On the basis of the rated score on Short form Conners teacher rating scale, 32 students, whose score is above 2 standard deviation above the mean were selected, and defined as the hyperactive group, 32 students, who with scores below the mean score were selected as control group. The subjects performed visual search task in which presentation speed of stimuli and the number of target were varied. A half of each group was given feedback contingent on the performance, and the other half were not. The results of present study suggested that the reaction time of the hyperactive group decreased more rapidly than that of the control group when contingent feedback was given. The rate of the increase in the reaction time with increase in the memory set was greater in the hyperactive group than in the control group. The present study indicated that the hyperactive group generally improved in their perfomance level when they were given feedback. The group improved consistently at the low attentional demand, but showed a different trade-off pattern between reaction time and accuracy at the high level of attentional demand when they were given feedback. The differential feedback effect suggested that attentional demand level should be considered when contingent feedback is used training of hyperactive children.