Predicting Success and Failure of Learning Disabled Children on Academic Tasks

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to test the hypothesis that the performance of learning disabled (LD) children on academic tasks depends on the presence or absence of a match between optimal response mode and method of task presentation. In this study the Detroit Tests of Learning Aptitude (DTLA) and the procedure described by Owen, Braggio, and Ellen were used to determine the optimal response modes of LD children. On the basis of pretest-posttest comparisons, the performance of LD children on the DTLA could be characterized as one of three different optimal response modes (covert, vocal, or visual-manual). Then, it was shown that by knowing the LD child’s optimal response mode, it was possible to predict performance on a paired-associate task. For all children the level of correct performance on the paired-associate task was higher when the stimulus items were presented using a method of task presentation similar to the LD child’s optimal response mode, and lower when the method of task presentation differed from the LD child’s optimal response mode. These results suggest that the LD deficit may come to expression when there is not a match between the child’s optimal response mode and the method of task presentation used by the teacher. The use of this procedure to diagnose and remediate the learning problems of normal and exceptional children is discussed.

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