Disorders of Human Learning, Behavior, and Communication. Ronald L. Taylor and Les Sternberg Series Editors

Transcription

1 Disorders of Human Learning, Behavior, and Communication Ronald L. Taylor and Les Sternberg Series Editors

2 Nirbhay N. Singh Editors Ivan L. Beale Learning Disabilities Nature, Theory, and Treatment Springer-Verlag New York Berlin Heidelberg London Paris Tokyo Hong Kong Barcelona Budapest

3 Nirbhay N. Singh, Department of Psychiatry, Medical College of Virginia, Richmond, VA 23298, USA Ivan L. Beale, Department of Psychology, University of Auckland, Auckland, NZ Series Editors: Ronald L. Taylor and Les Sternberg, Exceptional Student Education, Florida Atlantic University, Boca Raton, FL , USA Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Learning disabilities: nature, theory, and treatmentinirbhay N. Singh, Ivan L. Beale, editors. p. cm.-(disorders of human learning, behavior, and communication) Includes bibliographical references and indexes. ISBN X (alk. paper) 1. Learning disabilities-united States. I. Singh, Nirbhay N II. Beale, Ivan L. III. Series. LC4705.L dc With 8 illustrations. Printed on acid-free paper Springer-Verlag New York, Inc. Softcover reprint of the hardcover 1 st edition 1992 All rights reserved. This work may not be translated or copied in whole or in part without the written permission of the publisher (Springer-Verlag New York, Inc., 175 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY 10010, USA), except for brief excerpts in connection with reviews or scholarly analysis. Use in connection with any form of information storage and retrieval, electronic adaptation, computer software, or by similar or dissimilar methodology now known or hereafter developed is forbidden. The use of general descriptive names, trade names, trademarks, etc., in this publication, even if the former are not especially identified, is not to be taken as a sign that such names, as understood by the Trade Marks and Merchandise Marks Act, may accordingly be used freely by anyone. Production managed by Ellen Seham; manufacturing supervised by lacqui Ashri. Typeset by Best-set Typesetter Ltd., Chai Wan, Hong Kong fi ISBN-13: e-isbn-13: : /

4 We dedicate this book to the women in our lives for their understanding and unconditional love

5 Preface Our aim in editing this volume was to bring together a collection of chapters that adequately represented the contemporary field of learning disabilities, to serve as a useful guide to advanced students, and as a resource for practitioners and researchers. We saw the need for a book that not only presents the central concerns of the mainstream but also illustrates a variety of promising approaches to nature, theory, and treatment. Just as learning disability is not a unitary disorder, neither is it a unitary field of study. From the outset, theory and clinical practice have been characterized by a wide diversity of approaches, many of which have waxed and waned throughout the decades over which the field has developed. Particular themes have fizzled out only to reemerge in new clothes further down the line. The modern result is a field full of conflicting viewpoints on almost every aspect, from definition and diagnosis to etiology and treatment. It has attracted on the one hand excellent scientists and clinicians, and on the other, the worst kind of charlatans and exploiters of those searching for a magic cure. The field is too broad and complex for complete coverage to be possible in just a single volume. Any attempt to do so would result in such an oversimplification of ideas that nothing useful would be achieved. Instead we have been selective, choosing according to our own biased views, what to include in this volume. Both editors cut their teeth on the experimental psychology of learning, at a time when theoretical models of learning, with their associated methods of hypothesis testing, were giving way to the inductive methods of the experimental analysis of behavior. In the early 1960s the experimental psychology of learning was being applied to developmental learning problems, and strong efforts were made to characterize such problems as resulting from deficits or delays in underlying psychological processes. Even though the broad learning theories never fulfilled their promise, this general approach has continued to be applied in learning disabilities research, and is appropriately represented in some of the vii

6 viii Preface chapters of this book. Learning theory has continued to provide a basis both for ideas about the nature of learning disabilities and ideas about remediation. The emergence of applied behavior analysis from the experimental analysis of behavior has largely overtaken traditional learning models in the field of learning disabilities, especially in the remedial area. A principal reason is that applied behavior analysis is about changing behavior rather than explaining it. A second reason is that behavior analysis emphasizes the role of single-subject design in the assessment and remediation of the individual. It is therefore consonant with the growing recognition of the uniqueness of each person's learning problems and responsiveness to particular remedial efforts. Some chapters in this book illustrate well both present fruits and the future promise of this approach. A third general framework for understanding and remediating learning disabilities has been provided by cognitive psychology, broadly represented in this book in chapters on metacognitive processes, information processing, neuropsychology, and language. The physiological basis of learning disabilities is recognized in those chapters dealing with the genetic and pharmacological aspects, as well as the visual deficit hypothesis. This particular selection of topics indicates our attempt to represent those areas of the whole field that we think the serious student should know about. No doubt we have neglected themes that others would have liked to see included, and probably included areas that others would consider not deserving of a place. We think we have selected themes that will endure the next decade of development of learning disabilities research, and will prepare the student for what is to come as well as placing it in an historical context. We hope that those new to the learning disabilities field, as well as those already conversant with some aspects of it, will find this book helpful. We wish to thank those authors whose work we have brought together, for entrusting their efforts to us, and for their patience with the editorial process. Any success is theirs as much as ours. We thank all those others who have helped us with this project, especially those friends and families we have neglected in the process. We are grateful to the staff at Springer-Verlag for their support and encouragement, to Carol Adams, Christopher Lavach, Trudy McDaniel, Ashvind Singh, and Subhashni Singh for assistance in the preparation of the indexes, and to our diligent secretaries who make us look more efficient and productive than we really are. Finally, we thank those teachers, clients, and colleagues who got us interested in this field in the first place. Nirbhay N. Singh Ivan L. Beale

7 Contents Preface Contributors VII Xl Part 1 Nature 1 History, Definition, and Diagnosis Kenneth A. Kavale and Steven R. Forness 2 An Alternative to the Food Processor Approach to Subtypes of Learning Disabilities Linda S. Siegel and Jamie Metsala 3 Educational Assessment Ennio Cipani and Robert Morrow 4 Psychosocial Characteristics of Learning Disabled Students Ruth Pearl 5 Metacognition Katherine A. Larson and Michael M. Gerber 6 Adults with Learning Disabilities Henry B. Reiff and Paul J. Gerber Part 2 Theory 7 Neuropsychological Theories of Learning Disabilities W. Grant Willis, Stephen R. Hooper, and Brenda H. Stone 8 The Visual Deficit Hypothesis William Lovegrove ix

8 x Contents 9 Phonological Deficits in Dyslexia: A "Sound" Reappraisal of the Verbal Deficit Hypothesis? Charles Hulme and Margaret Snowling 10 The Inactive Learner Hypothesis: Myth or Reality? Elizabeth J. Short, Christopher W. Schatschneider, and Sarah E. Friebert 11 Genetics Jim Stevenson 12 Information Processing Models Robert T. Solman and Keith E. Stanovich. Part 3 Treatment 13 Behavioral Approaches Nirbhay N. Singh, Diane E. D. Deitz, and Judy Singh 14 Cognitive-Behavioral Approaches in Reading and Written Language: Developing Self-Regulated Learners Karen R. Harris, Steve Graham, and Michael Pressley 15 Computer-Assisted Instruction: Potential and Reality Kathryn G. Karsh and Alan C. Repp 16 Pharmacological Intervention Michael G. Aman and Johannes Rojahn 17 Remediation of Psychological Process Deficits in Learning Disabilities Ivan L. Beale and Lynette J. Tippett 18 A Commentary on Learning Disabilities John W. Lloyd Author Index Subject Index

9 Contributors Michael G. Aman, Ph.D., The Nisonger Center for Mental Retardation and Developmental Disabilities, and Department of Psychology, The Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio USA Ivan L. Beale, Ph.D., Department of Psychology, University of Auckland, Auckland, New Zealand Ennio Cipani, Ph.D., Department of Special Education, University of the Pacific, Stockton, California USA Diane E. D. Deitz, Ph.D., Department of Counseling, Educational Psychology and Special Education, Northern Illinois University, DeKalb, Illinois USA Steven R. Forness, Ph.D., UCLA Neuropsychiatric Hospital, Los Angeles, California USA Sarah E. Friebert, Ph.D., School of Medicine, Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, Ohio USA Michael M. Gerber, Ph.D., Department of Education, University of California at Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara, California USA Paul J. Gerber, Ph.D., School of Education, Program of Special Education, Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, Virginia USA Steve Graham, Ed.D., Department of Special Education, University of Maryland, College Park, Maryland USA Karen R. Harris, Ed.D., Department of Special Education, University of Maryland, College Park, Maryland USA Stephen R. Hooper, Ph.D., Clinical Center for the Study of Development and Learning, and Department of Psychiatry, University of North Carolina, School of Medicine, Chapel Hill, North Carolina USA xi

10 xii Contributors Charles Hulme, D.Phil., Department of Psychology, University of York, Heslington, York YOl 5DD, England Kathryn G. Karsh, Ed.D., Educational Research and Services Center, Inc., DeKalb, Illinois USA Kenneth A. Kavale, Ph.D., Division of Special Education, The University of Iowa, Iowa City, Iowa USA Katherine A. Larson, Ph.D., Department of Education, University of California at Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara, California USA John Wills Lloyd, Ph.D., Department of Curriculum, Instruction, and Special Education, Curry School of Education, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, Virginia USA William Lovegrove, Ph.D., Department of Psychology, University of Wollongong, Wollongong, Australia 2500 Jamie Metsala, Ph.D., Centre for Applied Cognitive Science, The Ontario Institute for Studies in Education, Toronto, Ontario M5S 1 V6 Robert D. Morrow, Ed.D., Department of Special Education Studies, University of the Pacific, Stockton, California USA Ruth Pearl, Ph.D., Department of Educational Psychology, University of Illinois at Chicago, Chicago, Illinois USA Michael Pressley, Ph.D., Department of Special Education, University of Maryland, College Park, Maryland USA Henry B. Reiff, Ph.D., Department of Education, Western Maryland College, Westminster, Maryland USA Alan C. Repp, Ph.D., Educational Research and Services Center, Inc., DeKalb, Illinois USA Johannes Rojahn, Ph.D., The Nisonger Center for Mental Retardation, and Department of Psychology, The Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio USA Christopher W. Schatschneider, Ph.D., Department of Psychology, Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, Ohio USA Elizabeth J. Short, Ph.D., Department of Psychology, Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, Ohio USA Linda S. Siegel, Ph.D., Department of Instruction and Special Education, The Ontario Institute for Studies in Education, Toronto, Ontario M5S 1V6 Judy Singh, M.S., School of Education, Division of Educational Studies, Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, Virginia USA

11 Contributors XJll Nirbhay N. Singh, Ph.D., Department of Psychiatry, Medical College of Virginia, Richmond, Virginia USA Margaret Snowling, Ph.D., National Hospital's College of Speech Sciences, London, England Robert T. Solman, Ph.D., School of Education Studies, University of New South Wales, Kensington 2033, Australia Keith E. Stanovich, Ph.D., Department of Psychology, Oakland University, Rochester, Michigan USA Jim Stevenson, M.Sc., Department of Psychology, University of Surrey, Guildford, Surrey, England Brenda H. Stone, Ph.D. candidate, Department of Psychology, University of Rhode Island, Kingston, Rhode Island USA Lynette J. Tippett, Ph.D., Department of Psychology, University of Auckland, Auckland, New Zealand W. Grant Willis, Ph.D., Department of Psychology, University of Rhode Island, Kingston, Rhode Island USA