EXPERIENCE FIRSTHAND

Video Transcript: Attention
	[opens on John, a second grade student, in interview with Dr. Mel Levine] Dr. Levine: Do you concentrate, you think, on the right things at the right time? John: Sometimes I go off track like Pokemon, [onscreen label "John, second grade Student"] Stuff like that. Dr. Levine: uh-huh John: When I'm doing, when my teacher's doing a read-aloud? Dr. Levine: uh-huh John: I just go off! Take my Pokemon cards out of my pocket Dr. Levine: uh-huh John: Start looking at 'em Dr. Levine: Right. And then you miss what was going on in class a little bit, I guess. John: [pauses] Sometimes. [cut to John in class] Dr. Levine voice-over: You know, we used to talk a lot about kids having a short attention span? But I think we've moved beyond that now and come to recognize that it isn't so much how long your attention span is as [cut to another distracted student in class] it is how well-matched the duration of your attention is to the target at hand. And there are--some of the same children who don't concentrate long enough on certain things concentrate too long on other things. [cut to Dr. Levine] So it isn't so much that they can't concentrate long enough, it's that they never quite apply the right amount of time to the right input. [fade to black] [cut to card: Processing Saliency Determination Depth and Detail of Processing Cognitive Activation Focal Maintenance Satisfaction level (highlighted)] [fade to Dr. Levine interviewing Ben, a fifth grade student] Dr. Levine: Do you think you move around a lot? Ben: Yeah, I squirm, um, a bunch. Dr. Levine: Uh-huh. Why do you do that? Ben: I don't know, I just seem to have excess energy all the time. Dr. Levine: Uh-huh. And squirming is a way of getting-- Ben: Yeah. Dr. Levine: --rid of it. Well, that makes sense. Um, there's a particular characteristic that some kids who have problems with their attention or squirm a lot have, and I'm going to teach you a new word you've never heard, and I want you to react to it. The word is "insatiable." It means they need excitement all the time. Ben: Ah... Dr. Levine: And-- Ben: That would probably describe me pretty well. Dr. Levine: Yeah. And insatiable kids, if there's no excitement around, [cut to Ben] if things are kind of boring-- Ben: [pretends to fall asleep snoring loudly] Dr. Levine: Either that or they can create the excitement. Ben: [laughs] That sounds a lot like me. Dr. Levine: [smiling] How would a kid do that? [cut to Ben] Ben: Ummmmm... By bouncing around the classroom doing weird things or sitting in a trash can. All of which I've been known to do.
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