Cognitive processing strategies for normal and LD children: a comparison of the K-ABC and microcomputer experiments

The purpose of this study was to investigate: (a) whether the cognitive processing Strategies employed on a visual-spatial and a verbal-analytic experiment differ for LD and normal readers; (b) the relationship between performance on the experimental tasks and the Kaufman Assessment Battery (K-ABC) Scales; and (c) the discriminating power of the experiments and the K-ABC for differentiating LD children from normal readers. Thirty-seven controls were matched by age, grade (4th-6th), and sex to 36 LD children. Univariate F tests show that the normal group scored higher on the K-ABC Scales; and, the two groups differed in terms of the processing Strategies used on a visual-spatial and a verbal-analytic experiment. Subjects did not demonstrate consistent processing Strategies on the K-ABC, the visual-spatial and the verbal-analytic experiments. Discriminant analysis showed that the visual-spatial and the verbal-analytic experiments had higher classification accuracy rates than did the K-ABC Scales. These results indicate that LD children do use different processing Strategies than do normal readers on a variety of tasks; however, neither group showed "consistent" Strategies across all tasks.