Learning Disabled Children's Peer Interactions during a Small-Group Problem-Solving Task

Abstract

Learning disabled children in grades three through eight participated in a problem-solving task requiring group decision making. An analysis of group choices indicated that the independently made choices of learning disabled children were less likely to be among the group's final choices. Analyses of the children's communication patterns revealed that learning disabled children were less likely to disagree with classmates, less likely to try to argue for their choices, and more likely to agree with their peers. In addition, learning disabled children were found to be less likely to engage in “conversational housekeeping” than nondisabled children. Hence, learning disabled children were less persuasive than nondisabled children, apparently as a result of their assuming a submissive, deferential role when interacting with small groups of peers.