The purposes of this study were to use empirical, multivariate classification techniques to form subtypes of learning disabledreaders (n = 59) based on their performance on a select sample of information-processing tasks and to validate the subtypes on reading achievement subskills. Application of hierarchical cluster analysis techniques resulted in a six-cluster solution that demonstrated good internal validity and accounted for the heterogeneity of processing skills in this sample of poor readers. Several subtype patterns support current hypotheses that link information-processing deficits with reading failure but none received unqualified support. The subtypes, however, were not differentiated by the five subtests of the Woodcock Reading Mastery Test (WRMT). Results from factor analysis suggest that the WRMT measured global reading skill and was not a sensitive measure of reading skill differences. It is also suggested that the experimental tasks typically used in this line of research may need to be reconceptualized from a reading perspective in order to more fully explain the relationship between cognitive processes and reading failure.
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