A Type I incidental learning paradigm was used to examine the manner in which learning disabled children and non-learning-disabled children responded to systematic variations in the semantic elements of words. Accuracy of performance on word categorization tasks did not differentiate the two subject populations. However, the LD subjects categorized words less rapidly and recalled fewer words on a subsequent free recall task than the non-LD subjects. The results suggested that semantic encoding and retrieval processes occur with less automaticity in learning and reading disabled children. Less rapid and inefficient use of the semantic content of words appears to be a contributing factor in the reduced performance of LD children on verbal learning tasks.
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