Motivational and Cognitive Aspects of Learning Disabilities

Abstract

The term learning disabilities is used to describe the difficulties of children who are failing in one or more basic achievement skill areas despite normal intelligence. Learning-disabled (LD) children vary in the types and severity of learning problems as well as in the hypothesized causes for their achievement difficulties. Despite this heterogeneity, some motivational and cognitive characteristics consistently differentiate LD children from their normally achieving peers. Observations of these children in their classrooms and reports from their teachers indicate that they are inattentive and lack persistence in their attempts to master schoolwork (McKinney & Feagans, 1983). On laboratory tasks, LD children are less likely to adopt the effective strategies that are spontaneously produced by their peers (Torgesen, 1977a). These findings led to a conceptualization of LD children as inactive or maladaptive learners (Torgesen, 1977a; Torgesen & Licht, 1983). Although this conceptual framework does not necessarily explain LD children’s initial learning problems (Torgesen & Licht, 1983), these behavior patterns can clearly interfere significantly with a wide range of academic achievement. Therefore, an understanding of the causes of maladaptive learning styles and methods to promote adaptive learning among LD children is an important area of research.