title: Effects of self-instructional training on cognitive impulsivity of mentally retarded adolescents.
abstract: 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.
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D001521:Behavior Therapy; D003072:Cognition Disorders / Q000534:rehabilitation; D004193:Discrimination Learning; D004495:Education of Persons with Intellectual Disabilities; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007175:Impulsive Behavior / Q000534:rehabilitation*; D008297:Male; D011581:Psychological Tests