The Performance of Children With Language-Learning Disabilities on Two Types of Cognitive Tasks

The performance of children with language-learning disabilities on two types of cognitive tasks was compared to that of two groups without language-learning disabilities, one matched for mental age and the other for language (vocabulary) age. The first task, Concept Formation, measured one’s ability to identify and state the rule for a concept about a set of colored geometric figures when shown instances and noninstances of the concept. The second task, Analysis Synthesis, required the identification and use of a solution key to solve an incomplete logic puzzle. Both tasks involved increases in complexity as additional items were administered. Results indicate that the children with language-learning disabilities performed at a level commensurate with the language-matched group on the Concept Formation task, and at a level commensurate with the mental-age matched group on the Analysis-Synthesis task. The implications of these findings for the nature of language-learning disabilities are discussed.