THE EFFECTS OF COGNITIVE STRATEGIES ON THE READING COMPREHENSION OF LEARNING CHALLENGED STUDENTS
THE EFFECTS OF COGNITIVE STRATEGIES ON THE READING COMPREHENSION OF LEARNING CHALLENGED STUDENTS
Issue Date
1997
Authors
Passmore, Kathleen
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Abstract
This study investigated the relationship between the reading scores of learning challenged students and their knowledge of cognitive strategies such as relaxation, imagery, centering and self talk. The subjects were thirty-one male and female high school students between the ages of fifteen and eighteen. All students were diagnosed with learning disabilities, enrolled in a Resource Center class and at least 86% mainstreamed. The independent variable was the cognitive interventions adapted from the discipline of Sport Psychology. The dependent variable was the change in reading comprehension scores, as operationalized by the Woodcock Reading Mastery Test-Revised, Passage Comprehension.
The subjects were given the test prior to and upon completion of five week instruction involving the use of the cognitive techniques in an academic environment. The data was analyzed using the dependent t-test for related measures and the Pearson's Product-Moment Correlation. The results of the t-test showed p>1.57. .05 statistical significance for this data was 1.699. Therefore, the results of this study were not statistically significant. In addition, the correlational measure did not show a .05 statistical significance between the number of minutes the subjects practiced on their own and the difference in their reading scores. Although the results of this study do not support the hypothesis that the cognitive strategies would have a positive effect on the reading comprehension of learning disabled high school students, the information gleaned from the study will be valuable for future research in this area.