Quick_form Select Defaults

I'm trying to set a default for the quick form select type and I have the following code: $activityForm->addElement('select','Area','Activity Area:',$areas); //$areas is my array of values and names $defaults['Area']=$default_val; // additional fields created and defaults saved into $defaults $activityForm->setDefaults($defaults); It sets the values of everything except my select statement. I've checked to make sure the $defaults['Area'] is still set and it is. Anybody know what I"m missing here? ican't find anything in the quick_form documentation that suggests select is any different from anything else. James Kilbride