The primary purpose of the present study is to evaluate the emotional experience of students with (n = 52) and without attention problems (n = 272) during an achievement task. A secondary purpose of the present study is to compare students' emotional response to various stimuli, when motivated by various achievement goals. Participants were…

The central auditory processing (CAP) abilities of 52 low-achieving gifted high school students were measured and compared to matching groups of achieving gifted students, average students, and students with learning disabilities. Results indicated significant CAP deficits in the low-achieving gifted group that were similar to those of the…

Investigated digit repetition performance in learning-disabled children in an effort to assess its clinical and theoretical significance. Clincally, learning-disabled children (N=100) had a higher than expected incidence of large verbal-performance discrepancies, although mean overall digit repetition performance did not differ appreciably from…

The paper reviews literature relating to selective attention in the learning disabled child. Three processes related to the concept of selective attention (as proposed by D. Berlyne) are discussed: attention in learning, attention in remembering, and attention in performance. It is pointed out that verbal mediation, the use of verbal labels to…

A mediation versus production deficiency in memory processing was examined by testing the effect of instructions for rehearsal on performance of 128 average and disabled readers in grades 2 and 5. A second study examined effects of covert rehearsal on the memory of 64 average and disabled readers in grade 2 over trials. (Author/PHR)

Explored the differential application of a self-regulatory strategy on mathematics performance among three eighth-graders with learning disabilities and diverse planning abilities. Found that all students improved on fraction probes as a function of using a cue card strategy. The student with high planning ability demonstrated consistent…

A study examined the executive functioning of 55 elementary school children with and without problems in written expression. A model that reflects some of the executive function domains (initiate, sustain, set shifting and inhibition/stopping) which significantly separate good writers from poor writers was used, however, none of the executive…

A study investigated the relationship between working memory (WM), declarative strategy knowledge, and math achievement in 111 children with and without mathematical disabilities (MD). Results found verbal and visual-spatial WM, stable verbal strategy choices, and expert strategy choices related to visual-spatial processing all contributed…

This article reviews research on the influence of affect on thoughts, cognition, and behavior of students with learning disabilities and finds that induced positive affect leads to more accurate performance on math, greater learning of new vocabulary, and better performance on new learning tasks. (Author/DB)

One hundred students (ages 6-8) described similarities and differences among exemplars of different categories, identified the categories, and named the exemplars. Large performance differences were found between normally achieving and mildly retarded groups and between mildly retarded and learning-disabled groups, with small performance…

The study examined the role of verbal mediation in language processing by 88 children (ages 8-12 years) with low verbal/high performance Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children (WISC) profiles. (Author/PHR)

Fourth-grade students (n=45) either with or without learning disabilities and achieving or not achieving at grade level in math were asked to explain strategies used to solve computational problems. Strategies were classified as reproductive or reconstructive (which varied in applicability and efficiency). Significant group differences were found.…

Forty children (ages 7-11) referred for evaluation of learning problems, who had normal scores on measures of academic achievement, were compared to 81 similarly referred children who had scored low. Children with normal achievement scores had higher IQs and better decoding skills, however, the two groups showed similar neuropsychological…

This article presents an overview of two studies that examined the relationship between metacognition and mathematical problem solving in 165 third-graders. Principle components analysis on metacognition revealed that three metacognitive components (global metacognition, off-line metacognition, and attribution to effort) explained 66-67 percent of…

Administered a complex reaction time task to 47 learning-disabled and 41 control children. The preparatory interval between a warning and act light was manipulated for length and regularity. Results indicated that the inability to sustain attention over time, rather than momentary inattentiveness, distinguished the two groups. (Author)