An investigation of perceptual training and reading achievement in first grade

The Effectiveness of Perceptual Training and Psychosocial Counseling in Adjustment to the Loss of Vision

This study evaluated the effects of perceptual training and psychological counseling (both individual and group) on adjustment to vision loss in 49 elderly persons with low vision. Overall, the interventions improved the participants’ visual functioning and beliefs about the loss of vision, and follow-up interviews revealed that these improvements were maintained three to six months after the study ended.

Cognitive development and cognitive style

This study was designed to examine (a) whether the process of formulating transitive inferences is either a spatial or a linguistic process, but not both, (b) whether transitivity develops from a spatial to a linguistic process as a function of cognitive growth, (c) whether the transitivity process varies according to individual preferences for and abilities or disabilities with spatial as opposed to linguistic reasoning, and (d) the effect of specific task characteristics on the processing of a transitivity problem. Subjects were learning disabled children aged 7, 9, 11, and 13. All subjects, regardless of age, received highest scores on tasks involving linguistic input. There was no evidence of a developmental shift from spatial into linguistic reasoning. At ages 7, 9, and 11 there was no evidence of process preferences. At age 13 some evidence was found for the influence of cognitive style preference. Implications for the relationship between cognitive development and cognitive style are discussed.

Effectiveness of visual perceptual training on reading skills of non-readers, an experimental study

48 second and third grade non-readers who were estimated to have visual perceptual deficiences were randomly placed in experimental and control groups. The experimental group received perceptual training plus remedial instruction. The control group received only remedial instruction. After 7 mo., the low perceivers given visual training improved significantly in visual perception, but improvements were not reflected in improved reading achievement. Controls gained 8 mo. in reading achievement versus 6 mo. for experimentals, indicating that visual perceptual training did not influence the achievement of reading skills for this group.