Alternative Thinking and Classroom Behavior of Learning Impaired Children

Abstract

The impact of alternative thinking on overt behavior of learning impaired second and third graders (66 boys, 21 girls) was examined. Measures of alternative problem solutions, classroom behavior, and reading proficiency were obtained before and after subjects participated in a therapeutic tutoring program. Some subjects received formal training in interpersonal problem solving as well as tutoring while others received only tutoring. At pretest, number of alternative solutions correlated positively (not negatively as expected) to teachers' ratings of acting-out behavior for boys and positively (as expected) to “good-student” behavior by girls. Training in problem solving had no measurable effect on the number of alternative problem solutions generated or on classroom behavior but did lead to reduced reading gains. Increases in alternative problem solutions from pretest to posttest were associated with increases in acting-out behavior for both boys and girls. It is suggested that numerous alternative solutions may reflect impulsive or uncritical thinking rather than constructive social skills by learning disabled children.