Programmatic, multidisciplinary research provided converging brain, genetic, and developmental support for evidence-based diagnoses of three specific learning disabilities based on hallmark phenotypes (behavioral expression of underlying genotypes) with treatment relevance: dysgraphia (impaired legible automatic letter writing, orthographic…

A sentence demonstration task was used to examine the information processing skills of 14 normal and 14 learning disabled college students. The effects of sentence meaningfulness (meaningful vs. nonsense), sentence length (two vs. four vs. six vs. eight items), and presentation mode (words vs. logographs) were evaluated. A Population Membership by…

The study found that using bizarre imagery was not as effective as a cued recall task in improving word recall of 14 college students with learning disabilities. Recall was also poorer during imagery than semantic processing instructions. Long-term memory for both learning disabled and non-disabled subjects was not aided by bizarre imagery.…

The complexity (fractal dimension value) of responses to the Rey-Osterrieth Complex Figure Test (ROCFT) between 10 undergraduate students with learning disabilities and a comparison group of 10 students without learning disabilities were compared. The fractal value of responses was assessed under three conditions (copy, immediate, and delay) by…

Seven memory strategies that can be taught to college students with learning disabilities or students who have not learned essential study skills are described: the method of loci, pegwords, keywords, rote rehearsal, chaining, clustering, and first letter mnemonics. To help college faculty provide direct instruction in the memory strategies, the…

Forty-four university students, of whom 11 had learning disabilities (LD), were tested on tasks requiring multisyllabic pseudoword repetition, oral reading, memory for digits, and vocabulary. In both LD and non-LD groups, significant correlations were found between pseudoword repetition accuracy and reading, suggesting that poor readers also have…

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…

Individual differences in digit span, susceptibility to proactive interference, and various aptitude/achievement test scores were investigated in two experiments with college students. Results indicated that digit span was strongly correlated with aptitude/achievement scores, but did not indicate that susceptibility to proactive interference…

Includes "In the Beginning" (Maxson); "Memory, Our Educational Practice, and History" (Davis); "CURRICULUM! What's Curriculum?" (Brimfield); "A Song to Sing" (Stanley-Muchow); "Creatively Gifted, Learning Disabled Individuals" (Torrance); and "Purpose, Products, and Visions: The Creation of New Schools" (Ponder, Holmes). (SK)

College students (n=204) who had difficulties in both foreign language and math (FLD/MD), only math difficulties, or only foreign language difficulties (FLD) were studied. The students with FLD showed a pattern of deficits on subtests measuring grammar and spelling, long-term memory, and visual phonology. More males were referred for FLD.…

In a study at California State University, Sacramento, the effects of color light and relaxation exercise therapy were investigated with 16 students (ages 23 to 48) with learning disabilities. Therapy consisted of either 20 sessions viewing color light through a Lumatron instrument or 20 sessions listening to relaxation exercise tapes. Diagnostic…

Intended for use in college-level secondary-education methods courses, the module contains text, an annotated bibliography, and overhead masters. The first section explains the federal definition of learning disabilities (LD), noting the difficulty of measuring many of the characteristics identified in the definition and the resulting increasing…

Thirty-five college students with learning disabilities (LD) and 25 students with a history of mild head injury (MHI) were compared on tests of neuropsychological, psychological, and academic achievement. Students with LD performed poorly on linguistically oriented psychoeducational tests, whereas students with MHI showed cognitive deficits in…

Gender differences in level and pattern of cognitive abilities were examined in 49 learning-disabled college students. Females were stronger in visual-motor abilities and verbal conceptualization, whereas the males' highest abilities were nonverbal visual-spatial. Both groups showed weaknesses in memory for digits and factual knowledge and in…

The Research Institute for the Study of Learning Disabilities, established at Teachers College, Columbia University, was guided by the postulation that academic failure experienced by learning-disabled children results from interaction between the way they process information and the information processing demands of the instructional methods…