Visual versus verbal mnemonic training effects on memory-deficient and language-deficient subgroups of children with reading disability

This study compared the effectiveness of two different memory strategies for memory-deficit, reading-disabled (RD) children with different cognitive patterns. Forty learning-disabled children 7 to 13 years old were divided into two groups based on whether they showed general language disorder (GLD) or specific memory disorder (SMD) without a language deficit. Each child was then given training in one of two memory strategies: visual mapping or cumulative verbal rehearsal. Subsequent memory performance of the two RD subgroups was compared over the two treatment conditions. There was a significant interaction in the effectiveness of the two treatments for the two groups' memory performance after treatment. GLD children made significantly greater gains from pretesting to posttesting on the visual mapping treatment than on the cumulative verbal rehearsal treatment, whereas the SMD children demonstrated significantly greater gains on cumulative verbal rehearsal than on visual mapping. The findings suggest that there is a relation between an RD child's cognitive strengths and deficits and ability to employ a given memory strategy effectively.