The Development of Encoding Processes in Learning Disabled Children

Abstract
The current experiment compared the development of encoding preferences in learning disabled children and non-disabled children. Both learning disabled (LD) and non-learning disabled (non-LD) boys from grades 2 and 6 were given a false recognition task. To measure the relative dominance of attributes encoded by the two groups at the two ages, study and test items were manipulated to form visual, acoustic, and semantic distracters. For both second grade and sixth grade LD subjects, visual distracters produced significantly greater numbers of false recognitions than acoustic or semantic distracters. This pattern of encoding preferences was also observed with non-LD second graders. However, sixth grade non-LD subjects displayed a shift in encoding preference and were significantly more distracted by semantic than by acoustic or visual items. The results suggest that LD students do not spontaneously use the eflortful semantic processing strategy of elaborative rehearsal.

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