Selective attention in fast and slow learners

64 children aged 8 yr. were trained on a tactile simultaneous discrimination task. Selective attention was measured in terms of percentage contact time per trial to the relevant dimension. Inter- and intra-couplings per trial were also recorded. Multivariate analyses were carried out to examine the role of component factor scores, obtained from a component curve analysis of the percentage touching time per trial, and selected cognitive variables in differentiating between the fast and slow learner groups. Percentage touching time factor scores and a memory factor were significant, but there was no significant difference between the groups in the number of couplings made. As learning progressed the number of inter- and intra-couplings decreased.