The performance of disabled and non-disabled students on college admissions test were compared. Performance of learning disabled and hearing impaired students appears most discrepant from the norm. Evidence relating to validity and reliability of admissions tests for handicapped and nondisabled examinees suggests no dependable differences in…

The paper reviews limitations in social skills research with mentally retarded persons, noting problems in conceptual development, validation of social skills objectives, and generalization. The most serious limitation identified is the failure to demonstrate that community integration and adjustment can be enhanced through training. (CL)

The paper discusses four major relaxation training approaches used with handicapped children: progressive muscle relaxation, biofeedback, yoga, and mental relaxation, which includes guided fantasy, imagery, and meditation. Descriptions of these techniques, the effects of their use with various populations, and reviews of recent studies of their…

Sixth-graders learning disabled in mathematics (N=30) received subtraction training that included instruction and practice opportunities. Some children set proximal performance goals, others had comparable proximal goals assigned, and some received training without goals. Participation in goal setting led to the highest self-efficacy and…

Two studies involving learning disabled elementary students examined two procedures shown to facilitate concept acquisition among normal children: selection and sequence of positive and negative examples and analytic assistance during concept learning. Examples did not facilitate concept acquisition, and exposure to a simple strategy actually…

The study examined DSM III (Diagnostic and Statistical Manual) Axis I and Axis II diagnoses in 350 school children (aged 6-14) referred for psychiatric evaluation. Diagnostic categories were examined for relationships to age, sex, ethnicity, IQ, achievement, and special education placement. Findings suggested certain diagnostic groups appeared to…

Eleven academically handicapped and 18 nonhandicapped members of a fourth-grade class participated in an auditing procedure in which they audited their own performance and that of all classmates on daily arithmetic assignments. Handicapped students on the average audited classmates more often (although not signficantly more so) than nonhandicapped…

The article discusses a study by L. Terman in which results of the two methods can be compared. Both types of comparisons indicated that CMT (Concept Mastery Test) ability improves considerably with age. This multiple checking of several groups each time versus the same groups over time strengthens the conclusion. (Author/CL)

Review of the first 14 years (1971-1985) of the Study of Mathematically Precocious Youth at The Johns Hopkins University reveals that many youths who reasoned exceptionally well mathematically were identified, studied further, and aided. The use of longitudinal teaching teams in nonguided instructional settings is encouraged. (Author/CL)

The first of 10 papers providing a state of the art of research synthesis in special education, the introduction/overview stresses the importance of applying scientific techniques and standards to the evaluation and summarization of substantive research findings. (DB)

The paper proposes a statistical methodology for synthesizing single-subject research in special education. A regression model that can be used to generate effect sizes for both changes in slope and changes in level occuring as a result of the treatment intervention is outlined. (Author/DB)

Analysis of 326 studies of early intervention efficacy indicated significant positive benefits for most children but little evidence to support some common beliefs (such as the superiority of very early intervention or the necessity for parental involvement). Application of the steps in the scientific method are recommended for such large scale…

Using 52 previous reviews of the early intervention efficacy literature, the article demonstrates the value of systematically considering previous reviews before initiating a new review. The authors suggest that tabulations of conclusions of reviews serve as hypotheses to be confirmed or rejected by objective synthesis methods. (Author/DB)

The synthesis of 18 single subject research studies on early intervention for socially withdrawn children indicated that reinforcement and measurement of targeted socially interactive behaviors showed the largest effects, with some treatment (such as unreinforced modeling of behavior) showing little effect. There was little evidence for skill…

Results of synthesis of 1007 studies on the nature of learning disabilities using indicators in the linguistic, achievement, neuropsychological, and social-behavioral domains, indicated that 75% of learning disabled Ss could be differentiated from normal Ss but only 40% of the variance could be explained. Findings suggest the need for a…