This study, with 48 students (including 16 eighth graders with learning disabilities (LD), 16 age level peers, and 16 reading level peers), found that all groups, but especially LD students, benefited from experimenter activation of prior knowledge on reading comprehension tasks testing inferential reading ability. Experimenter activation of prior…

The article examines whether the material-appropriate processing approach can anticipate and explain the mnemonic effects of elaborative encoding tasks and study adjuncts for less able learners. Evidence suggests that less able learners are not capable of spontaneously exploiting the affordances of the to-be-learned material without appropriate…

This article describes the concept and varieties of mnemonic instruction and how mnemonics interacts with the specific learning characteristics of learning-disabled students. The effectiveness of the techniques, as reported in research studies, is described. Implications for classroom instruction and further research are provided. (DB)

This article reports on a reading comprehension instructional technique which uses reciprocal-like teaching formats in groups and semantic mapping to make text structures apparent. The procedure significantly affected recall of expository ideas and knowledge of comprehension strategies with 28 intermediate grade students with learning…

This interview study examined the perceptions and beliefs about cognitive strategy instruction of 31 classroom teachers of underachieving students and 9 strategy researchers. Teachers and researchers generally agreed about components of strategy instruction and when to teach them; one difference was the tendency of researchers to relegate each…

Over a six-week period, students (N=19) with learning disabilities in an inner-city middle school were taught the chronological order of the U.S. presidents. Half the time a modified mnemonic keyword-pegword strategy was used and the other half rehearsal and representational pictures. Delayed posttesting revealed a significant main effect for…

Twenty-six articles including information about the cognitive and academic characteristics of learning-disabled college students are reviewed, focusing on levels of intellectual functioning, reading achievement, mathematics achievement, written expression, and foreign language performance. Research needs and implications for service provision are…

The selection of subjects for research on learning disabilities is a function of contemporary notions about learning disabilities, the purpose of the study and level of knowledge about the topic, and practical constraints. Denigrations of the extant research database, along with unaffordable demands for subject selection and descriptions, threaten…

Fifteen children (ages 5.1 to 6) received a 12-week intervention on measures of phonological processing skills and reading. At posttest, students performed significantly better than the control group on measures of phonological processing skills and in reading. Results suggest such early intervention may enhance early reading and possibly reduce…

Scores of 38 learning-disabled college students on the revised Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale (WAIS-R) and the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children-Revised (WISC-R) were compared. Results indicated significant correlations between the tests, though subjects tended to obtain higher scores on the WISC-R than on the WAIS-R. (Author/DB)

The original authors respond to a critique of their meta-analysis of 94 studies which had failed to support the presence of distinctive Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children profiles for learning disabled children. The critique contended such a pattern does exist. (Author/DB)

As part of a continuing dialog concerning the validity of a meta-analysis of 94 studies suggesting that there is a lack of any distinctive pattern in the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children (Revised) profiles for learning disabled children, this article maintains the view that such differences do exist. (DB)

A survey of 66 experts in learning disabilities (LD) found treatment maintenance, generalization, and assessment and remediation of academic problems ranked highest as research priorities. Analysis of two leading LD journals found current topics to include academic assessment and remediation, while ignoring generalization and maintenance of…

The review of the literature concludes that the research on human figure drawing performance of learning disabled (LD) children is sparse and suffers from methodological weaknesses, particularly vague and shifting sample selection criteria. Among conclusions are that little evidence supports the claim that LD children display immature or disturbed…

The stability of peer status of children (ages 9 to 12) with (N=38) and without learning disabilities (LD) was examined through sociometric measures twice in the same school year. Although test-retest reliability was good, children with LD were likely to lose peer status and be seen by peers in less favorable terms at Time 2 than Time 1. (Contains…