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Updated: Aug 13, 2026

Multimodal Protocol for Assessing Metacognition and Self-Regulation in Adults with Learning Difficulties
Published on: September 27, 2020
Cognition in specific learning disability
Sunil Karande1, Sulaxna Sawant, Madhuri Kulkarni
1Department of Pediatrics, Lokmanya Tilak Municipal Medical College and General Hospital, Sion, Mumbai, India. karandesunil@yahoo.com
Objective:
To compare the cognition abilities of children with specific learning disability (SpLD) viz. dyslexia, dysgraphia and dyscalculia with those of non-impaired children.
Methods:
The study group consisted of 95 newly diagnosed SpLD children (aged 9-14 years) and the control group consisted of 125 non-impaired children (aged 9-14 years). An academic achievement of two years below the actual grade placement on educational assessment with a Curriculum-Based test was considered diagnostic of SpLD. A battery of 13 cognition function tests based on Guilford's Structure of Intellect Model was administered individually on each child in four areas of information viz. figural, symbolic, semantic and behavioral. Mean scores +/- SD obtained in these four areas were calculated in both groups and compared using Independent Samples t-test. A P value < 0.05 was considered significant.
Results:
Children with SpLD had significantly lower scores (mean +/- SD) in all four areas of information: maximally in the symbolic area (18.66 +/- 4.83 vs. 28.30 +/- 4.29, mean difference 9.64, P < 0.0001, df = 218, 95% CI 8.43-10.86), followed by semantic (18.72 +/- 5.07 vs 27.36 +/- 4.17, mean difference 8.64, P < 0.0001, df = 218, 95% CI 7.40-9.87), figural (17.10 +/- 5.24 vs 25.14 +/- 3.36, mean difference 8.04, P < 0.0001, df = 218, 95% CI 6.89-9.19), and behavioral (5.68 +/- 2.10 vs 7.54 +/- 1.46, mean difference 1.86, P < 0.0001, df = 218, 95% CI 1.39-2.33) areas.
Conclusion:
Cognition abilities are significantly impaired in children with SpLD.
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