The authors of this current study compared the memory performance of adolescent students with specific reading disabilities (RD) with that of typical adolescent readers on a newly developed verbal learning test, the "Bergen-Tucson Verbal Learning Test" (BTVLT). This multiple trial test was designed to measure memory acquisition,…

The following insights into the reading skills of 312 participants in adult basic and secondary education programs are based on a principal components analysis of reading components' contributions to variance in reading comprehension. Overall, 75% of variance was explained by four composite variables representing word skills, language…

A study of 30 normal and poor readers tested the hypothesis that reading disabled children's failure to apply effective strategies to rote-memory tasks is related to their lack of reflective knowledge about memory and their disorganized approach to cognitive tasks. Findings supported the view that many children fail to read well because they do…

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…

The study investigated the effects of incentives for good performance on the selection and use of an efficient task strategy by 30 reading disabled and 30 normally reading second graders. (SBH)

Fifty-five males with learning disabilities and 55 average-achieving males in grades 6-7 studied paired associates of varying difficulty levels, through image construction or pairing rehearsal. Regardless of item type or presentation rate, both groups of students benefited from imagery instructions, with great similarity in between-condition…

The study examined the use of advance organizers by seven regular secondary teachers with seven learning disabled students. Advance organizers did positively affect students' retention of information, but only after students were taught to attend to and use the advance organizers. (Author/DB)

The study investigated the effects of modality preference, mode of instruction, and verbal feedback on immediate and delayed recall of new words in 72 elementary age learning disabled students. (Author/PHR)

The study found that college students with learning disabilities (LD) were as able as nondisabled students to use story grammar and comparison text structure to aid recall of social studies text passages. However, LD students scored significantly lower on use of causation text structure. Results suggest that use of comparison structures precede…

This article uses a self-organizing systems (SOS) framework to explain the complexity of learning disabilities (LD) and suggest that traditional classification schema may be inadequate. It explains principles of self-organizing systems and reviews research concerning reading and math disabilities and the roles of language, attention, working…

Patterns of memory dysfunction were determined in 50 middle school learning disabled readers (LD) through a hierarchical cluster analysis. Results were consistent with memory capacity theories of LD and provided external validation for classification of LD readers on psychometric measures according to patterns of memory performance. (Author/DB)

The study involving 24 normal, 24 learning disabled (LD), and 18 deaf elementary-age Ss investigated the hypothesis that nonstrategic verbal encoding abilities are deficient in LD readers. Results were interpreted to indicate a deficient verbal-visual integrative process in disabled children occurring prior to the application of mnemonic…

Results of the study involving 30 learning disabled and 30 normally achieving fifth graders indicated that questions increase the retention of main ideas in learning disabled children; however, questions had little effect on the retention of main ideas in normally achieving children. (SBH)

Thirty-five learning-disabled readers (mean age 10) and 43 controls were compared on a sentence span task and on recall of everyday features, consequential events, and misleading information. Results indicated that subjects were deficient on working memory and naturalistic measures, but their naturalistic memory deficits did not appear to relate…

This study compared 19 students with learning disabilities (LD) in grades 6 and 8 with their nondisabled peers on the free recall of science passages when differences in passage understanding and domain vocabulary were controlled. Results suggested that the poorer performance of LD students might be the result of the inability to understand and…