Abstract
The diagnostic category of learning disabilities is a heterogeneous one, but few empirical attempts have been made to distinguish subgroups. Recent research, however, suggests that it may be meaningful to discriminate between “hyperactiveℍ and “nonhyperactiveℍ learning-disabled children. In the present study, 21 learning-disabled children identified as “hyperactiveℍ through teacher nominations and ratings were compared to 15 learning-disabled children identified as “nonhyperactiveℍ in the same manner. The two groups differed on rated behavior, birth order, amount of prescribed stimulant medication, amount of psychosocial stress, and Verbal, Performance, and Full Scale WISC-R IQ scores. They did not differ, however, on several demographic variables, the number of perinatal complications, reading achievement, and a number of tonic and phasic measures of autonomie activity. These findings support the distinction between “hyperactiveℍ and “nonhyperactiveℍ subgroups of learning-disabled children, but suggest that the two subgroups may have a similar biological substrate.
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We wish to express our sincere appreciation to Douglas Carmichael, Martha Stewart, Kay Richmond, and the teachers of Clarke County for their kind and sophisticated assistance, and to David Coleman and David Hammer for their technical assistance.
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Delamater, A.M., Lahey, B.B. & Drake, L. Toward an empirical subclassification of “learning disabilitiesℍ: A psychophysiological comparison of “hyperactiveℍ and “nonhyperactiveℍ subgroups. J Abnorm Child Psychol 9, 65–77 (1981). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00917858
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00917858