The purposes of the present study were (1) to explore whether teat methods could be devised to measure in children the operation of two cognitive controls or principles (Focusing -Scanning and Constricted -Flexible) identified in adults('), and (2) to determine if these cognitive principles could be shown to operate differentially in the functioning of brain damaged, orphaned, and public school children. It was assumed that these three populations represented different ego pathologicalexceptional states because of the life experiencea and consequent personality development unique to each; therefore, they should difier significantly with reapect to these cognitive principles, if cognitive functioning, life experiences, and personality make-up are intimately interrelated.
Subjects. Three groups of subjects (Ss) were employed: 44 children attending a residentialeducational center for brain damaged children; 38 children selected from an orphanage. and 44 children selected randomly from an elementary school.
The intellectual levels of all Ss were determined by the WISC and are reported along with information concerning age and sex in Table 1. All Ss had normal visual acuity (corrected or uncorrected) as determined by the standard Visual Acuity Chart, American Optical Company. TABLE 1. SEX, AQE AND INTELLIQENCE C ~C T B B I S T X C S OF SUBJECTS Eupu>ym~ N B o p Girh MeanAge AgeRange MeanIQ I Q h n g ~ BrainDamaged Children 44 32 12 11-0 6 1 3 ym.