| The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship between cognitive tempo of learning disabled students and their listening comprehension ability as a function of rate of presentation, regardless of material content (i.e., taped narrative materials--leisure: high interest/low vocabulary; taped expository materials--factual/social studies and technical/science. These data were collected on 57 learning disabled students enrolled in the fourth, fifth, and sixth grades in the Anderson Community Schools Special Education Co-op. Each student was tested with the Matching Familiar Figures Test (Kagan et al., 1964). Three groups of the four cognitive tempo quadrants were utilized in the experimental manipulation (i.e., listening comprehension as a function of rate of presentation, regardless of material content). Fifteen subjects were randomly assigned within each group using a drawing with replacement procedure.;Findings. Results indicated that no significant differences existed between the three groups of subjects (i.e., impulsive, reflective, fast/accurate). However, significant differences existed between content levels and between the four rates of presentation. A significant interaction between groups and rates of presentation was observed. A significant difference between content levels was present for impulsives, while a significant difference between rates was present for fast/accurates. With the three content levels, no significant difference between groups was found. However, with all groups combined, a significant difference between rates occurred at each content level. A significant difference between groups and between content levels was determined at the 1.0 rate of presentation. At the 1.5 rate of presentation, a significant difference existed between content levels only.;Conclusions. In general, the results of this study did not support the contention that increased rates of presentation would improve listening comprehension ability among learning disabled students. It was revealing to note the consistently poorer performance of the impulsive subjects on all tasks. This finding supported research which suggested that impulsive tempo is one factor contributing to poor school performance (Messer, 1976b). (Abstract shortened with permission of author.). |
