Social Cognition and Cognitive Processing in Students with Learning Disabilities

Authors

  • Henry B. Reiff
  • Paul J. Gerber

Abstract

In investigating possible explanations for social skills deficits in students with learning disabilities, researchers have examined social perception, the interpretation of behavior in order to understand the thoughts and feelings of others. Evidence suggests that the cognitive processing deficits impeding learning in the classroom for students classified as learning disabled also undennine accurate social perception. This study specifically examined cognitive correlates of social perception in individuals with learning disabilities. Thirty-two students with learning disabilities in elementary grades were measured on three subtests (Comprehension, Picture Arrangement, and Digit Span) ofthe Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children-Revised (WISC-R) and the Profile of Nonverbal Sensitivity (PONS). The three WISC-R subtests assess aspects of the cognitive constructs ofverbal comprehension, perceptual organization, and attention and memory. Results of correlational analyses indicated that the combination of all the variables accounted for statistically significant explained variance in the PONS. Picture Arrangementand Comprehension each had significant bivariate correlations with the PONS. In addition, these two subtests shared significant predictive power. Hence, a factorcommon to both Picture Arrangement and Comprehension seemed to have  an inherent relation to social perceptual functioning. Implications of these results are discussed.

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Section

Articles