Use of Admission Criteria to Predict Performance of Students in an Entry-Level Master's Program on Fieldwork Placements and in Academic Courses.

The relationships among clinical outcomes, academic success, and predictors used to screen applicants for entrance into a Master in Occupational Therapy Program (MOT) were examined. The dependent variables were grade point average in occupational therapy courses (OT-GPA), client therapy outcomes at the clinic, and ratings of MOT students by Level II Fieldwork supervisors. Predictor variables included undergraduate GPA, scores on the Graduate Record Examination (GRE), and an essay. Both undergraduate GPA and scores on the GRE were found to predict OT-GPA. The analytical section of the GRE was also positively correlated with fieldwork supervisors' ratings of students.

Prediction of academic and clinical performance of occupational therapy students in an entry-level master's program.

OBJECTIVE: The relationships between clinical outcomes and predictors used to screen applicants for entrance into a Master in Occupational Therapy (MOT) program were examined. METHOD: MOT student records from 1986 to 1992 were used to gather data for three dependent variables and six predictor (independent) variables. The dependent variables used to gauge student success were grade point average in occupational therapy courses (OT-GPA), client attendance at an on-site clinic, and therapy outcomes of clients at that clinic. The predictor variables were undergraduate GPA, scores on the three sections of the Graduate Record Examination, reference forms, and essays. RESULTS: The models used to predict OT-GPA and therapy outcomes were significant (p < .05), and the incremental validity of several predictors was established. The model used to predict client attendance was not significant. CONCLUSION: The findings regarding OT-GPA support the continued use of all the predictors except the reference forms. Although it was possible to develop a model to predict client outcomes, the usefulness of the model is difficult to interpret.

Attention, distraction and reaction time at age 7 years and prenatal alcohol exposure.

This report is one phase of a longitudinal prospective study on the behavioral teratology of alcohol. The present study evaluated the effect of early prenatal alcohol exposure (assessed during pregnancy) on reaction time, attention and distraction in 475 young school-age children who took a computerized CPT vigilance task. Multiple regression analyses were adjusted for a variety of co-variates including other exposures, postnatal conditions and demographics. Prenatal alcohol exposure was most significantly related to CPT errors of commission, reaction time, and the vigilance errors summary score. Error scores on the vigilance task were also significantly correlated with independent behavior ratings of endurance, persistence, organization, distractibility and impulsivity. This study supports and extends earlier reports of alcohol-related attentional deficits observable in the neonatal period and in the preschool years.

Vigilance paradigm for preschool children used to relate vigilance behavior to IQ and prenatal exposure to alcohol.

A methodology for investigating vigilance behavior in preschool children was developed. The administration of the task was adapted to young children and a scoring system was devised to adjust for the higher level of random responding found in this sample of preschoolers. 28 3- and 4-yr.-olds were given the Stanford-Biner Intelligence Test and a 12-min. vigilance task. The children, drawn from a sample used in a larger study, were the offspring of three groups of mothers: recovered alcoholics who drank during pregnancy, recovered alcoholics who did not drink during pregnancy, and nonalcoholics who drank litt or nothing during pregnancy. A significant correlation was found between the number of correct responses on the vigilance task and IQ (r26 = . 53, p less than .01). The conclusions that can be drawn regarding the relationship of vigilance to maternal alcohol use (chi 2 = 4.82, p less than .09) are limited by small sample size.