The cognitive involvement of children with learning problems

Abstract

This research focuses on answering the question of whether a child with a learning problem, or more specifically, a learning disability, functions at a lower cognitive level than the non-learning disabled child. Performance on certain memory tasks and tasks that require the withholding of attention from distractors is measured and compared. In the literature study, an overview of the neurological, the cognitive and the ecological approaches to remediation is given. The concepts of attention deficits and memory problems are investigated, as well as the theories of cognitive development as propounded by Piaget and Santostefano. No significant difference in the cognitive functioning, as measured by the test used in this research, was found between these two groups of children. The implication of this is that where children experience learning problems, the explanation for this difficulty is possibly at an ecological level. More specifically, it may relate to a lack of stimulation during the pre-school years.