Learning disability and hyperactivity: Deficits in selective attention

Differences in performance on a variety of cognitive measures and differences in patterns of ability between learning disabled (LD) and nonlearning disabled (non-LD) children were examined. Younger and older LD and non-LD children were administered tests of central and incidental learning and selective attention. Teacher ratings of classroom hyperactivity were also examined. LD children, particularly the younger ones, performed significantly more poorly than non-LD children on both attention/memory tasks. Performance on the two tasks was consistently interrelated for the non-LD children and less consistently so for the LD subjects. Hyperactivity was also related to poorer performance on the cognitive measures. Results are discussed in terms of components of selective attention.