Ability of sustained auditory attention in children: effect of day time

• Grant number: 06/06945-3
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Scientific Initiation
• Start date: February 01, 2007
• End date: December 31, 2007
• Field of knowledge: Health Sciences - Speech Therapy
• Principal Investigator: Mariza Ribeiro Feniman
• Grantee: Mirela Machado Picolini
• Host Institution: Faculdade de Odontologia de Bauru (FOB). Universidade de São Paulo (USP). Bauru , SP, Brazil

Abstract

Attentions processes relate the determination of which internal and external stimuli are chosen for the processing, and consequently which stimulations will have a reply. Then, the attention ability reveals to be of essential importance, having in mind that this ability requires that the listener conscientiously selects which impulse he will give attention and process his reply (GOMES et al. 2000, MEDWETSKY, 2002). The child’s ability to sustain attention can be influenced by the period of the day, as explain some studies. To understand the effect of this variable in the attentions abilities is of great interest for the educational and health areas professionals, having in mind that when the sustained attention and the monitoring are modified, they cause difficulty of concentration in the task with damage of development and learning. This work has the objective to verify the effect of the period of the day in the ability of sustained auditory attention in 80 children, boys and girls, with age between 7 years and 7 years and 11 months, without school complaints, and no behavioral complaints, and absence of auditory alteration. These children will be divide in two groups (Group M and Group T), taking in consideration the period of the day that they will carry through the evaluation offered. Thus, Group M, should be submitted to the evaluation in the period of the morning, between 09h00min and 11h30min and Group T, should be submitted to the evaluation in the period of the afternoon, between 15h00min and 17h30min. The evaluation process consists of an interview with the parents and/or with the responsible for the child, auditory evaluation and the application of the Ability of Sustained Auditory Attention Test (ASAAT) (Feniman, 2004). The ASAAT will evaluate the sustained auditory attention, in which the child must answer for only one specific auditory stimulation (target word), keeping the attention and concentration in the task for a drawn out period of time. The results will be organized in a data base to facilitate to the analysis statistics.