# ADAPTIVE ATTENDING BEHAVIOR--MENTALLY RETARDED CHILDREN

> **NIH NIH R01** · EUNICE KENNEDY SHRIVER CTR MTL RETARDATN · 1994 · $117,730

## Abstract

This proposal is seeking continued support for a program of research
involving relational learning in mentally retarded and nonretarded
individuals, which has been funded by NICHD for 3 years.  The specific aim
of the present investigators is to analyze and enhance the relational
characteristics of stimulus arrays in order to facilitate performance on
tasks such as oddity and match-to-sample.  Both mentally retarded and young
nonretarded children are particularly prone to failure on these relational
tasks (Green et al., 1990; Soraci, Deckner, Baumeister, & Carlin, 1990).
Converging evidence from various studies suggests that a critical factor in
the performance discrepancies between retarded and nonretarded children is
a differential sensitivity to relational information.  We are in the
formative stages in the development of a general theory of relational
learning that would have implications for an understanding of the locus of
performance differences across varying levels of intellectual functioning
(e.g., Soraci, Baumeister, & Carlin, in press).  In the proposed studies,
emphasis will be placed on the role of the structures of visual arrays in
facilitating detection of relevant stimulus relations as a "front-end"
(Brown, Collins, & Deguid, 1989) intervention strategy.  The proposed
studies are divided into two sections:  (a) Global Stimulus Array
Organization:  The Oddity Paradigm, and (b) Stimulus-Specific Organization:
The Detection Paradigm.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 2198914
- **Project number:** 5R01HD023682-08
- **Recipient organization:** EUNICE KENNEDY SHRIVER CTR MTL RETARDATN
- **Principal Investigator:** SALVATORE A SORACI
- **Activity code:** R01 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 1994
- **Award amount:** $117,730
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 1988-09-01 → 1997-01-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/2198914

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 2198914, ADAPTIVE ATTENDING BEHAVIOR--MENTALLY RETARDED CHILDREN (5R01HD023682-08). Retrieved via MORVS 2026-10-25 from https://api.morvs.ai/grant/nih/2198914. Licensed CC0.

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