Equipment required Cost of programs CO-SKILLS Main Page
Target Clientele
Children and adults (6 years and older) who:
Target Skills
Mode: Auditory
Principal skill(s) targeted: Attention while carrying out simple tasks.
Whether called upon in visual or auditory mode, sustained attention is a pre-requisite to efficient completion of various everyday life activities. Sustained attention plays a significant role in information processing. It enables one to continuously target relevant information for processing over a long period of time. It is essential to offer the client the possibility to work on this cognitive ability in auditory mode as well as in visual mode.
Exercises
Levels Stimuli Classes: 1. Increasing 14 2. Decreasing 14 3. Series 8
The exercises call upon time estimation, which requires maintaining attention over a period of time.
Class 1: Increasing
Scenario and task: The client is playing a game of hide-and-seek with some children. He/she sees is a child who is hiding his eyes and can hear him counting forwards according to a certain rhythm. When the child ceases to count out loud, the client must take over and continue mentally counting while keeping the same rhythm. The client must respond when he/she thinks that target number indicated earlier by the mentor has been reached. If the client stops the count on the target number, then he/she was successful in following the rhythm.
Response mode(s): Click on the mouse or press the space bar.
Feedback:
Well Done! If the target number is obtained (correct) Great! If the error margin is one (correct) Oops… If the error margin is beyond one number (incorrect) Class 2: Decreasing
Scenario and task: In this task, the same scenario as for class 1 is used with the exception that the numbers are heard in decreasing order. The client’s task is thus similar to the first – he/she must respond when he/she thinks the child has reached zero. The target number is always zero, but the starting numbers vary.
Response mode(s): Click on the mouse or press the space bar.
Feedback:
Well Done! If zero is obtained (correct) Great! If the error margin is one (correct) Oops… If the error margin is beyond one number (incorrect) Class 3: Series
Scenario and task: A somewhat forgetful conductor is leading his musicians. He counts out the rhythm to follow, but at some point forgets where he has reached in the music and stops counting. The conductor counts out loud (e.g.: 1, 2, 3… 1, 2, 3… 1, 2, 3), but after a certain amount of time, the numbers cease to be heard. The client must continue to repeat in his/her head, at the same rhythm, the conductor’s cadence until asked to select the number corresponding to that which would have been reached by the conductor from the proposed response choice.
Response mode(s): Click on the mouse or use arrow keys and the space bar to select.
Feedback:
Well Done! Correct response Oops… Incorrect response
Difficulty Level Variables
Level Completion Criterion: 3 consecutive correct responses
* Note: the client automatically changes class after three consecutive errors.
The exam
The exam is comprised of 14 items representative of the Increasing class.
Background (increasing, decreasing)
Background (series)
Instructions
Class 1. Increasing :
« Some children are playing hide-and-seek. Many are hiding while one of them counts out loud. Sometimes, you have to help him count. Make sure to keep the same rhythm. You must press the spacebar when you think you have reached the number presented before the count begins. »
Class 2. Decreasing :
« Some children are playing hide-and-seek. Many are hiding while one of them counts backwards out loud. Sometimes, you have to help him count down. Make sure to keep the same rhythm. You must press the space bar when you think you have reached zero. »
Class 3. Series :
« Your conductor provides you with the rhythm to follow by counting out loud. When he stops counting, you must continue to count in your head at and the same rhythm until the symbol “?” appears. You must then select the number that the orchestra and conductor would have reached. »