ORIGINAL PAPER The effects of fine motor movement and tactile stimulation on the math problem solving of students with attention problems Suneeta Kercood Æ Janice A. Grskovic Æ David L. Lee Æ Stacey Emmert Received: 25 January 2006 / Accepted: 30 March 2007 / Published online: 30 May 2007 Ó Springer Science+Business Media, LLC 2007 Abstract This study evaluated the effectiveness of fine motor physical activity with tactile stimulation during two conditions of math problem solving, visual and auditory. Eight 4th and 5th grade students with attention problems participated. Using an alter- nating treatments design, students solved as many math story problems as they could, presented on worksheets or verbally during two conditions, with and without tactile stimulation during 20 min. Motor behavior, recorded from videotape, and number of correctly completed word problems were measured. Results suggest that fine motor manipulation of a tactile stimulation object reduced excessive motor movement and increased task completion of students with attention problems. Keywords Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder Á Math problem solving Á Fine motor activity Á Tactile stimulation It is estimated that up to 1 in 20 children in the U.S. have attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) making it one of the most commonly diagnosed disorders of childhood (Faraone et al. 2003). Children with ADHD demonstrate a defective capacity for inhibition, resulting in inappropriate or excessive responding, and difficulty focusing and sustaining effort resulting in impairment of their ability to sustain cognitive processing (Douglas 1989). Various interventions have been used to address these deficits. Antecedent interventions have been successfully used with students with ADHD (e.g., curricular modifications) but are generally under studied. Ante- cedent interventions are especially appropriate for students with ADHD if they are based on a functional approach. Adding environmental stimulation has been found to reduce the excessive movement of students with ADHD. Rugel et al. (1978) assessed the body movement of 7–12 year old students with and without ADHD and found that their movement increased throughout a vigilance task but that for students with ADHD, external stimulation resulted in more normal levels of body movement. Similarly, Lee and Zentall (2002) found that stimulation in the form of color added to a computer task reduced the activity levels of students with ADHD. Embedding stimulation into academic tasks has also improved attention for students with attention disorders. Visual stimulation (e.g., bright colors added to black and white worksheets, colored back- grounds added to computer-based tasks) increased the S. Kercood (&) Á S. Emmert College of Education, Butler University, 4600, Sunset Avenue, Indianapolis, IN 46208, USA e-mail: skercood@butler.edu J. A. Grskovic School of Education, Indiana University Northwest, Gary, IN, USA D. L. Lee College of Education, The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA, USA 123 J Behav Educ (2007) 16:303–310 DOI 10.1007/s10864-007-9042-1