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THE RELATIONSHIP OF VISUAL PERCEPTUAL INTEGRATION TO READING DISABILITIES: AN APPLICATION OF HEINZ WERNER'S DEVELOPMENT THEORY (HOLTZMAN INKBLOTS, WISC-R, LEARNING DISABILITIES)
Abstract
This study investigated whether learning disabled students with two distinct patterns of reading disorders differ from normal readers in ability to organize and integrate visual-perceptual stimuli. The developmental theory of Heinz Werner (1948, 1978) and the Simultaneous-Sequential information processing theory of Das, Kirby, and Jarman (1979) formed the conceptual framework for the study. Seventy-two students (36 fourth graders and 36 eighth graders) served as subjects. Each age category consisted of 12 normal readers, 12 learning disabled High Reading Comprehension-Low Reading Recognition students, and 12 High Reading Recognition-Low Reading Comprehension students. The Holtzman Inkblot Technique (Holtzman, Thorpe, Swartz, & Herron, 1961) and the Developmental Level Scoring System (Friedman, 1952) were used to measure visual-perceptual integration. The results showed that for both age levels, the performance of the three groups on perceptual integration differed significantly. The normal readers performed significantly better than the combined learning disabled groups, and the two learning disabled groups performed significantly different from each other on the following variables: Form Appropriateness, Integration, and Developmental Level score. The High Reading Recognition-Low Reading Comprehension group produced the lowest number of integrationally well-organized responses. The results support the treatment of learning disabilities as a distinct diagnostic category, and suggest that complex integrative cognitive processing is a critical distinguishing characteristic of learning disabled readers. The findings confirm Werner's description of perceptual development in children, and show that intact holistic visual-perceptual processing is strongly related to good reading comprehension. Implications are discussed in terms of reading remediation techniques that take advantage of processing strengths. The findings also emphasize the need to develop assessment techniques that are sensitive to individual differences in cognitive processing styles between normal and learning disabled students.
Subject Area
Educational psychology
Recommended Citation
LANGNER, HANS CLEMENS, "THE RELATIONSHIP OF VISUAL PERCEPTUAL INTEGRATION TO READING DISABILITIES: AN APPLICATION OF HEINZ WERNER'S DEVELOPMENT THEORY (HOLTZMAN INKBLOTS, WISC-R, LEARNING DISABILITIES)" (1985). ETD collection for University of Nebraska-Lincoln. AAI8602112.
https://digitalcommons.unl.edu/dissertations/AAI8602112