Date of Award

1-1-1984

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

Department

Counseling Psychology & Community Services

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to compare learning disabled with nonlearning disabled secondary school students (grades 7 through 12) on their responses to four cognitive style dimensions: (1) psychological differentiation, (2) locus of control, (3) conceptual tempo, and (4) breath of categorization. It was hypothesized that the variables could be used in a discriminating fashion in helping to distinguish the two groups. In addition age was investigated with junior high students being compared to senior high students.Participants for this study were junior-senior high learning disabled and normal students (27 LD and 33 nonLD). The design consisted of two groups (LD and nonLD) and four measures of cognitive style. Multivariate analysis of variance and discriminate analysis procedures were used to test for significance of group membership with an alpha level of .05 used for all tests. Four different instruments were used to measure the cognitive styles. The Group Embedded Figures Test measured psychological differentiation, the Nowicki-Strickland Locus of Control Scale for Children measured locus of control, the Impulsivity Scale of the Personality Research Form was used to measure conceptual tempo, and a children's version of the Category-Width Scale measured breadth of categorization.Results indicated that a significant difference exists between the two groups (LD and nonLD) when all four measures were entered in a discriminant analysis. A significant difference was found between the LD group and the non LD group on the three cognitive variables of psychological differentiation, locus of control, and breath of categorization, but no significant difference was found between the two groups and conceptual tempo. No age difference was found in the manner in which junior and senior high students responded to the four cognitive measures.The results would appear to suggest that cognitive style variables can be used to discriminate between LD and nonLD secondary school students. This could potentially be valuable information for assessment, placement, and remediation of learning disabled students.

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