Learning Set Acquisition: Problem Solving Strategies Employed by Reading Disabled and Normal Children

Abstract

A number of characteristics have been attributed to reading disabled children, primarily through the use of correlational statistical techniques. This investigation looked directly at the learning process of reading disabled children, by comparison of reading disabled and normal children's responses to a conditional discrimination learning set (LS) task. Errors made by both groups were analyzed to determine if different problem -solving strategies were employed by reading disabled and normal children when attempting to solve the learning task. The results of this investigation indicate that normal children are more adept at solving the LS task than the reading disabled children. Children comprisirtg the two groups also used different strategies for solving the learning task, as the reading disabled children tended to be more rigid in their approach, while normal children were more willing to try varying responses and take chances. The results of this study offer a direction for future research leading to possible reading remediation strcrtegies. Investigation of strategies used in the learning-to-learn process, as well as methods for facilitating (or programming) generalization, offers a perspective on reading problems which is as yet unexplored.