Selective attention in children with learning disabilities

49 children, aged 11 to 14 yr., a learning disabled group and a normal group, performed a primary, reading-like, card-sorting task. After they completed the primary task, they were tested for memory of incidental materials presented during learning. While the normal children showed better recall of incidental materials related to the primary task, 24 children with disabilities showed superior recall of material irrelevant to the primary task. The results were discussed in terms of alternative "motivational" and "developmental lag" interpretations.