Effects of self-instructional training on cognitive impulsivity of mentally retarded adolescents

The cognitive style dimension of reflection-impulsivity was assessed for 27 retarded adolescents using the Matching Familiar Figures Test. The most impulsive adolescents subsequently received training in self-instruction while observing a reflective model or observed the model without specific training in self-instruction. Posttraining measures indicated that the self-instruction procedure produced significantly more reflective responding than did the model-alone procedure. The results also suggested the presence of a developmental lag in cognitive style among the retarded children compared to recent norms for nonretarded children. The finding that the retarded youth were responsive to self-instructional training appears to be inconsistent with Luria's (1961) contention that retarded individuals are incapable of using the language-based second signaling system to influence and control their own behavior.