Hyperactivity and attention deficits are frequently observed in individuals with heavy prenatal alcohol exposure. Early reports on FAS describe these children to be tremulous, hyperactive, and irritable (Hanson, Jones, & Smith, 1976). Affected children show deficits in attention on neuropsychological tasks of vigilance, reaction time, and information processing (Burden, Jacobson, & Jacobson, 2005; Jacobson, Jacobson, & Sokol, 1994; Jacobson, et al., 1993; Streissguth et al., 1986; Streissguth et al., 1984; Streissguth, Sampson, et al., 1994). Parent (Janzen, et al., 1995; Mattson & Riley, 2000; Nash et al., 2006) and teacher (Aragon, Coriale, et al., 2008; Brown et al., 1991; Carmichael Olson, Sampson, Barr, Streissguth, & Bookstein, 1992) reports of attention difficulties are also common. More than 60% of children exposed to alcohol in utero exhibit deficits in attention (LaDue, et al., 1992), and they demonstrate a significantly higher rate of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) (Fryer, McGee, Matt, Riley, & Mattson, 2007) and hyperkinetic disorders (Steinhausen, Willms, & Spohr, 1993) than typically developing children. Like children with ADHD, children prenatally exposed to alcohol show impairments investing, organizing, and maintaining attention as well
