| Attention is a necessary foundation for learning. Factors that have an effect on attention are maturation (Miller & Weiss, 1981; Gibson, 1992), gender (Brickenkamp & Zillmer, 1998) and intelligence (Silverman, Chitwood, & Waters, 1986; Sankar-Deleeuw, 2000).; Chess requires students to use attentional skills to play and compete successfully. It has been shown to improve performance in traditional learning areas and can be a substantial bridge to intellectual and emotional growth (Bettelheim, 1997; Christiaen & Verholfstadt, 1978). Playing chess over a period of time has resulted in higher standardized test scores (Liptrap, 1998). Chess provides an intellectually stimulating and rewarding recreational activity (Schmidt, 1982; Rifner & Feldhusen, 1997) that fosters an appreciation for the consequences of actions and enhances planning skills, problem-solving skills, and decision-making skills (Graham, 1985; Horgan, 1987).; The goal was to examine attention in middle school students. The research question examined was: To what extent can variance in attention in middle school students be explained by gender, age, giftedness, and chess activity? These hypotheses were tested: (1) Gender is a significant predictor of attention in middle school students. (2) Age is a significant predictor of attention in middle school students. (3) Giftedness is a significant predictor of attention in middle school students. (4) Chess activity is a significant predictor of attention in middle school students.; Thus, 126 middle school students from two metropolitan area middle schools were asked to complete a brief questionnaire about their chess activity, their identification as "gifted," gender, and age. Students then completed the d2 Test of Attention. The d2 Test measures processing speed, rule compliance, and quality of performance and estimates individual attention and concentration performance. Multiple regression analysis was used to determine the relation among the variables of giftedness, age, gender, chess activity and attention and to determine the influence of the four independent variables on attention. Total R equaled .572 with an R2 of .305, an adjusted R of .305. Three variables (age, gifted, chess activity) made significant contributions to the measure of attention. |
