Self-Instruction and Learning Disabilities: Maintenance, Generalization, and Subject Characteristics

Summary

The present study assessed the effects of self-instructional training on learning-disabled children's perceptual deficits. Twenty-nine children (M age = 9.70 years) were assigned randomly to a control (n = 10), an attention-placebo control (n = 9), and self-instruction group (n = 10). Analyses of covariance (with the pretest score as the covariate) yielded significant treatment effects at post- and maintenance testing, although there was no evidence whatsoever of any generalization to academic performance of classroom behavior. Analyses of the frequency of overt self-verbalizations at post- and maintenance testing further suggested the efficacy of self-instructions for direct treatment effects. Finally, the importance of S characteristics in self-regulation programs was emphasized: Children with an internal locus of control orientation tended to use overt self-verbalizations most frequently.