RECALL AFTER A SHORT DELAY AND ACQUISITION IN LEARNING-DISABLED AND NONDISABLED CHILDREN

In experiment 1, serial recall of supraspan digit sequences after a short delay and acquisition of a repeated digit sequence were compared in learning disabled and nondisabled children. The results showed that short-term recall and acquisition rate were lower in learning disabled than in nondisabled children, and short-term recall and acquisition rate were positively correlated. In Experiment 2, serial recall of supraspan color sequences and acquisition of this type of information were compared in learning disabled and nondisabled children. Short-term recall and acquisition rate were positively correlated. In Experiment 3, the sequence length presented to each child exceeded the number that each child could recall perfectly after a short delay. Results of this experiment showed that acquisition in learning disabled and nondisabled children was more similar than when all children acquired the same amount of information. The present findings are consistent with previous suggestions that those processes such as attention and memory that are responsible for low recall in learning disabled children are also responsible for slow acquisition in these children.