Normal achievers were compared with underachievers on measures of anxiety, curiosity, motivation, conformity, self concept, and achievement. The 40 male underachieving children (age range 8 to 13 years) with learning disabilities received a 6-week remedial training program relevant to their deficits, in addition to a regular summer camp program, while the 40 normal achieving males (age range 8 to 13 years) were involved in a regular camp program. The achievers obtained higher scores than the underachievers on reading, spelling, and arithmetic, and older children did better than younger children within each sample, but there was no overlap in achievement between the two samples. It was found that the degree of underachievement increased markedly as the children got older, suggesting that remediation for underachievement needs to occur as early as possible. The underachievers conformed significantly less than the normals which was thought to be indicative of a lack of responsiveness to social reinforcement on the part of children with learning disabilities. Similarly, in some situations the underachievers reported less anxiety than the normals, perhaps indicating a greater social awareness and ability to verbalize anxiety on the part of the normals. (Author)