Learning-disabled adolescents recoding skills following repeated communication failure.
Communication effectiveness of 15 learning-disabled and 15 control adolescent boys was compared, employing a referential task entailing repeated communication failure. The task required one to four verbal descriptions of eight abstract drawings to a pseudoconfederate listener. Transcribed descriptions were presented to two groups of 10 judges for matching to the proper drawing. One group of judges was provided with each description as an independent item while the second group was presented descriptions as part of a sequential set. Both subject groups achieved higher effectiveness when the judges received the descriptions as ordered sets. The learning-disabled boys provided less effective messages than their nondisabled peers. Egocentricity in the learning-disabled adolescents' descriptions was identified.
D000293:Adolescent; D003142:Communication; D003210:Concept Formation; D003674:Defense Mechanisms; D006801:Humans; D007859:Learning Disabilities / Q000523:psychology*; D008297:Male; D009949:Orientation; D010364:Pattern Recognition, Visual; D012660:Semantics; D014705:Verbal Behavior