| Eighty male children (40 learning disabled and forty non-learning disabled) between the ages of 8 years 6 months and 12 years 11 months were presented thirteen requisitives varying in model verbtype, valence, and sentence form and asked to place self-representative figures in relation to four status figures (i.e., principal, teacher, same-age friend, younger child) in a potentially conflict-ridden situation. The situation included a broken window and a desk whereupon a ball identified as the child's was placed in proximity with one of the status figures. The spatial distance between the self-representative and the status figures was used to index the degree of the deference the children assigned the requisitive types. It was hypothesized that individual differences, i.e., group and age (8 years 6 months-10 years 8 months and 10 years 9 months-12 years 11 months), as well as requisitive type and status would have significant effects on the children's figure placements. Significant main effects for status and requisitives were found. Moreover, an age x requisitive, and a status x requisitive interaction were found. A group x age x status and an age x status x requisitive three-way interaction were also significant. Contrary to expectations, independent assessments of social and linguistic competency did not predict children's figure placements nor were there any significant differences between the diagnostic groups as regarded these areas of competence. Findings are discussed in terms of how the deference assigned to requisitives varying in mood, valence, and form varies as a functions of individual differences and the context in which it is presented. |
